Woman dies after undergoing $1,700 cosmetic surgery with doctor she met through social media

A 31-year-old businesswoman died on Tuesday after undergoing a hydrolipo procedure – a form of liposuction – at a clinic in the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo.

Paloma Alves had trouble breathing after the procedure and went into cardiac arrest at Maná Day, a beauty clinic in São Paulo, the state capital.

Alves was rushed by paramedics to Dr. Municipal Hospital. Cármino Caricchio and died in the emergency room while doctors tried to save her life.

This was reported by a Brazilian news channel G1Alves’ husband, Everton Silveira, said she sought Dr.’s services through social media. Josias dos Santos and transferred him 10,000 Brazilian reais (almost $1,700), which she had been saving for two years.

The couple left their home in the town of Vargem Grande Paulista around 5 a.m. for the appointment scheduled for 9 a.m.

Silveira said the staff did not allow him to see Alves after the procedure was completed.

“I realized there was something strange about the expressions on the employees’ faces, so I opened the door of the room where she was supposed to be, but she was no longer there,” Silveira.

Silveira went to the lobby, where he saw a doctor performing chest compressions on Alves.

Dr. Josias dos Santos told Brazil’s TV Globo that his patient, Paloma Alves, had difficulty breathing as she lay in the recovery room on Tuesday after undergoing a hydrolipo procedure. The network found that dos Santos has been sued 21 times by patients who have accused him of malpractice

Alves was resuscitated and went into cardiac arrest as the ambulance approached the hospital.

São Paulo’s municipal health department said in a statement that Maná Day was not licensed to provide health services.

‘No Health Permit has been found at the municipal health supervision or no application for a health permit has even been submitted. It was fined and closed for conducting irregular activities,” the report said.

Dos Santos told TV Globo that Alves became short of breath within minutes of being transferred to the recovery room.

“The patient’s breathing problems worsened and she became unconscious, but it only lasted a few seconds,” dos Santos said.

‘We started with chest compressions. We started ventilating her with an oxygen mask. If you are suffering from oxygen deprivation, you would expect these maneuvers to help you recover quickly. That didn’t happen.’

Paloma Alves went into cardiac arrest after a hydrolipo procedure at a clinic in Brazil and then went into cardiac arrest when she was rushed to a local hospital, where she died in the emergency room as doctors tried to save her life.

The São Paulo Municipal Health Department found that the Maná Day clinic was not licensed to provide health services

The network discovered that other patients had accused him of medical malpractice 21 times in the past.

In 2021, a court ordered Dr. Dos Santos to pay a patient 50,000 reais, about $8,400, after a patient underwent a tummy tuck and liposculpture in December 2017.

The patient had dead body tissue and lost her belly button.

However, his lawyer, Lairon Joe, revealed that the cases had been dismissed by the court.

‘Dr. Josias has no criminal conviction for medical malpractice,” Joe said. “And all the cases, the police investigations that have been opened, have all been dropped. We will therefore provide the necessary clarifications.’

A hydrolipo is an alternative to liposuction that requires local anesthesia and can take between an hour and two and a half hours.

Paloma Alves’ Husband Revealed She Saved Nearly $1,700 for Two Years to Cover the Cost of Her Hydrolipo Procedure

During the procedure, the doctor injected a saline solution containing adrenaline and local anesthetic into the area to reduce and sculpt fat and cellulite.

Patients choose it because it is considered effective and non-invasive.

“Hydrolipo was intended to be this liposuction where anesthetic, saline and adrenaline are injected under anesthesia, in the doctor’s office and with the patient awake,” Dr. Wendell Ugueto to Brazilian news channel G1 in a 2021 interview.

“Because I have an anesthesia restriction, I can only perform (the procedure) in a few areas,” Ugueto explained. ‘It is an operation that can be somewhat uncomfortable for the patient. Conventional liposuction, on the other hand, is performed in a hospital setting and the patient is asleep. It is completely comfortable for the patient and we as surgeons can remove much more volume.”

The 52nd Civil Police Precinct in São Paulo is investigating the incident.

Alves’ death comes almost eight weeks after 24-year-old Viviane Monte died after undergoing six plastic surgeries at a medical facility in the northeastern Brazilian city of Sobral.

Her boyfriend of six years, Renan Santiago, told Brazilian news channel G1 that she paid about $7,300 for a breast reduction, buttock fat grafting and liposuctions on her stomach, arms, back and neck.

The businessman underwent the procedures on August 31 and spent 20 days in intensive care before passing away on September 26.

Hotel owner Fábia Portilho underwent a mammoplasty and liposuction on May 4 at a hospital in the central municipality of Goiânia.

The 52-year-old was discharged the day after the procedures, was rushed back to the medical facility on May 7 and died several hours later.