Woman Dies And Two Others Are Seriously Ill After Botched Plastic Surgery In Tijuana
After undergoing procedures back in January, one woman died, another was hospitalized for two weeks, while a third woman continues to suffer in pain.
RELATED: Tessica “Gorilla Glue Girl” Brown Reportedly Discovered Lumps In Her Breasts Before Surgery
According to PEOPLE Magazine citing The San Diego Union-Tribune, Keuana Weaver, a 38-year-old mother of two from Long Beach, California, died on the operating table, following her Jan. 29 procedure at Art Siluette Aesthetic Surgery in Tijuana, Mexico by Dr. Jesús Manuel Báez López. A health document provided by Keuana’s mother listed her cause of death as “secondary hypoxic encephalopathy,” a kind of brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation, the news site notes.
Keuana’s friend Kanisha Davis, a nurse, also told the newspaper that they both had scheduled liposuction and tummy tucks for the same day with the same doctor. However, Davis suspected something was off after noticing she was not hooked up to any monitors during the surgery, and she was released immediately. After learning that Keuana had died, Davis returned home to California and began bleeding internally and projectile vomiting. She was rushed to an emergency room and was in the hospital for two weeks, where she learned she was hemorrhaging inside. “If I hadn’t gone into the hospital when I did, I would have died,” she said. “Did we know we were taking a risk being in Mexico? Yes. But did we ever, at any time, think that risk would be death? No,” PEOPLE quotes.
A third woman named Esmeralda Iniguez told The San Diego Union-Tribune that she also underwent a surgical procedure at the clinic on the same day. She told the outlet that she was first hospitalized in California days after Keuana’s death, after almost dying from septic shock. Since then, she has continued to suffer from kidney failure. To note, she did not personally know Davis and Keuana.
“I was so septic by the time I reached the ER in Chula Vista on February 3rd, I was literally hours from death. My kidneys were shutting down,” Iniguez, who was hospitalized again this month, told the newspaper.
Authorities in Baja California, the Mexican state home to Tijuana, told the Union-Tribune that they are now looking into Keuana’s death:
“We’re working very hard to make sure that doctors who are practicing without the proper credentials are immediately shut down and are investigated by the Attorney General,” Atzimba Villegas, the state director of medical tourism, said in a statement. So far, neither Báez López nor the clinic responded to requests for comment from the newspaper.
RELATED: K. Michelle Asks For Prayers As She Prepares For Final Reconstructive Surgery