The latest victim is Jody Adkins, who died on June 21 at the age of 39
A 39-year-old Texas mother has become the sixth victim of a fungus linked to botched cosmetic surgeries in Mexico, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Jody Adkins died last week of fungal meningitis — a rare, life-threatening infection that causes swelling of areas around the brain and spinal cord — after traveling to northern Mexico for low-cost “mommy makeover” procedures.
Mrs Adkins, described by friends and family as a ‘sweetheart’ and ‘beautiful woman’, is survived by two daughters – Skyler West and Adelyn, and her husband Joe.
Health officials are unsure of the exact source of the fungal meningitis outbreak, but believe it may have come from unsterilized epidural equipment or black market morphine used during discount plastic surgery procedures.
She is one of six Americans to have died from the infection, including mother of four Lauren Robinson, who had breast augmentation, liposuction, and Brazilian butt lift (BBL) and mother of one Shyanne Medrano, who underwent liposuction and a BBL at Clinica -K3 – one of the offending clinics.
According to local news media, another Mexican patient has died.
Mrs Adkins with her two daughters
Mrs Adkins with husband Joe
Ms. Adkins, of Kountze, about 100 miles from Houston, Texas, died June 21 at a Houston hospital.
She had traveled to a clinic in Matamoros, a town bordering Texas that was only seven hours from her home.
Mrs Adkins, baramedic for Allegiance Ambulance who has two daughters died at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.
Hundreds of Americans who have traveled to clinics in Matamoros this year may be at risk, according to lists of people who have visited Clinica-K3 or Riverside Surgical Center.
The fungus isolated at the two clinics appears to be Fusarium solani, which was linked to a previous outbreak of meningitis in Durango, Mexico, late last year.
According to the CDC, that outbreak, which was also linked to epidural anesthesia procedures, had a death rate of nearly 50 percent from those infections — with 39 deaths out of 80 cases.
The new outbreak is believed to be due to contaminated epidural equipment used in procedures such as a BBL or dodgy morphine.
The women have paid up to $5,000 for their surgeries, a fraction of the price they would pay in the US.
Health officials have been able to reach about half of the 230 people who underwent surgery at both clinics since the beginning of the year. The outbreak started on June 1, 2023.
Both clinics closed in May.
Lauren Robinson (left) with husband Garrett Robinson. She traveled to Mexico in February for a breast augmentation, liposuction and BBL. Ms. Medrano (right) traveled to Matamoros in March to undergo a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) at Clinica-K3
But if other confirmed cases are found in other facilities, the number of risks could be much higher.
The CDC is urging anyone who has undergone epidural surgery (an injection into the spine to numb a part of the body) at either clinic this year to get to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible. going to be evaluated even if they have no symptoms.
The epidural is used in procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation and Brazilian buttock lifts, which can be more than $16,000 cheaper than in the US.
Dr. Luis Manuel Rivera De Anda performed Ms. Robinson and Ms. Medrano’s surgeries.
His Instagram showcases a plethora of pre- and post-surgery photos for liposuction, BBLs, and breasts and promotes a $5,000 offer of full liposuction, a BBL, and breast augmentation.
If a woman has these surgeries performed in the US, it can cost up to $20,000.
It is not known if the women’s infections had anything to do with Dr. Rivera DeAnda.
Chris Van Deusen of the Texas Department of Health told DailyMail.com that while most of the cases were women, some were also men.
He said: ‘If anyone knows anyone who may have gone to Matamoros for surgery, please let them know that they could be affected and to know what to look out for. health department in their area to get more information.”
Lauren Robinson (left) with husband Garrett Robinson. She traveled to Mexico in February for a breast augmentation, liposuction and BBL. Ms. Medrano (right) traveled to Matamoros in March to undergo a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) at Clinica-K3
Ms. Robinson traveled to Mexico for liposuction, a BBL and breast augmentation by Dr. Luis Manuel Rivera De Anda. She is pictured pe-op (left) and post-op (right)
In its latest update, the CDC said it is investigating 172 people who may have the infection.
There have been six deaths. Five of these are confirmed cases and one is a probable case.
There are now a total of nine confirmed cases, instead of six.
The patients monitored by the CDC reported symptoms such as headache, fever, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion and sensitivity to light.
Dr. Tom Chiller, chief of the fungal disease division at the CDC, told DailyMail.com he wouldn’t be surprised if the death toll doubles.
He said: ‘Unfortunately I expect more to come… it’s so important to get people in as early as possible and it’s not really too late. I think so far the longest period from the time of the procedure to the symptoms has been up to 50 days. Fungi sometimes have these long indolent periods and we’re not sure why, so it’s really not too late, we want people to come in and get evaluated.’
Dr. Chiller added that the agency does not yet know the exact source of the fungal meningitisand ‘unfortunately we will never know.’
He said the CDC is open to the fact that the infection could have happened in other clinics. It is currently believed that the source of the infection is the morphine provided to patients by anesthesiologists.
The map above shows the location of Matamoros, where the procedures took place. People are urged not to go there for plastic surgeries
About 1.2 million U.S. residents travel to Mexico each year to receive elective surgery at a discount, according to Medical Tourism Mexico, which advertises that patients can save up to 80% on a similar procedure in the U.S.
Dr. Chiller said, “In my opinion, there are a lot of anesthesiologists who visit these different clinics, and each anesthesiologist brings his own medications and performs his own way of anesthesia.
‘[Mexico has] I’ve tried talking to anesthesiologists because that’s probably where the risk lies [is]. I mean, there was the risk. Or the drugs [that] were used or the practices used. I think Mexico has tried to figure that out… they’re trying to make an effort to talk to anesthesiologists, understand their practices, and if there are problems, they try to improve those practices.”
The brain infection is not isolated to one particular surgeon, he said.
Dr. Chiller said, “I’m not at all concerned about the surgery itself, or the way they perform the surgery, or the liposuction, or the butt lifts.
“We have not had any problem with the specific operation. It’s all in the meninges [membranes that enclose the brain and spinal cord]. It’s all in this room, where the only thing going in is the epidural.’
“We think, based on what they tell us, that two different drugs are being used. There’s an anesthetic and then there’s the painkiller. The anesthetic is to numb things, the painkiller is [to help with] pain, and that’s the morphine.
“The anesthetic used is widely distributed in Mexico, so we would think we would see other patients with this, if there were a lot of contaminated batches, unless it was specifically distributed to Matamoros. But Mexicans say that doesn’t seem to be the case.
‘If that is not the case, [it could be] the painkiller. [The Mexicans] tell us that morphine is scarce and hard to get, so there could be black or gray markets producing this stuff in an unregulated way. People may think they are getting legitimate morphine and they are not. That is still very unclear to us.’
He added: “If that’s the case, it could be contaminated morphine that anaesthesiologists buy. They might buy it from a place with poor production and there are some contaminated batches. That’s one possibility.
“The other possibility is that the machines used to make the catheter and the epidural are somehow contaminated in these two clinics. That seems less likely to me because then I think we would see loads of infections until it got cleaned up, but you never know with mold.
“Finally, just the procedure of possibly mixing the drugs, in the hands of the anesthetist, there could be challenges there. Honestly…I just don’t know if we’ll ever know.’
This is reported by a local Mexican news outlet Expresso pressthe Mexican patient who died suffered from medication intolerance, which meant the dose had to be reduced, fatally triggering the infection.
Two other patients have been admitted to the High Specialty Regional Hospital (HRAE) in Victoria, Mexico.
Tamaulipas health secretary Vicente Joel Hernández Navarro said: “We have to keep an eye on them for more than six months, we can’t claim victory yet and we ask them not to go [very far].’