A 31-year-old mother of two died after she had liposuction at a clinic located in a mall in the eastern Venezuelan city of Cumaná.
Ana Rosa Mavarez fell ill after undergoing the minimally invasive procedure at the Marina Plaza Ambulatory Surgery Unit on Saturday night.
Mavarez, mother to an eight-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy, was rushed to a medical facility, where she was pronounced dead early Sunday morning.
Authorities arrested Dr. Alexander Larrochelle, who reportedly operated on Mavarez, after he visited a local police station to provide a statement Sunday.
Dr. Larrochelle will be held for up to 45 days while investigators go over their findings.
The surgeon performed a lipolaser on Mavarez, her mother, Petra Rivero, told news portal El Pitazo.
Mavarez’s condition continued to decline while Dr. Larrochelle used a laser to break down fat cells and tighten loose skin.
Petro said her daughter complained about severe pain and was not given medicine to treat the discomfort.
She added that Mavarez had her own lipo pump at the facility to reduce the swelling, but that one of the nurses declined to use it.
Mavarez began convulsing around 10pm and was not intubated until 12:30 am when Dr. Larrochelle showed up at the clinic.
Rivero said that the death certificate showed her daughter’s time of death as 11 pm, and that Dr. Larrochelle and the staff tried to convince the family into thinking that she was still alive.
The family searched all of Cumaná for an ambulance to transport Mavarez to another hospital, but were unable to do so because none of the ambulances were equipped with oxygen.
Mavarez was eventually transferred to a clinic at 4:30 am. Doctors admitted her into the facility without vital signs and confirmed her death.
“I am going to fight for my daughter, because she was not an animal. And just as it happened to my daughter, it has happened to many,” Rivero said. “And it’s going to keep happening if they don’t retaliate with that bum. That’s a butcher shop they have there.”
Prayers to her family.
