A 33-year-old patient has become the fifth person to die after receiving defective IV fluids following a cosmetic surgery.
Melissa Esmeralda Guzmán Alarcón died yesterday (7 Apr) after spending a fortnight in the ICU.
She had been admitted in critical condition after suffering an adverse reaction to the saline solution she was given.
READ MORE: DJ arrested on suspicion of running ‘high-end’ prostitution ring
Melissa developed severe complications just hours after getting liposuction on 23 March.
She developed severe neurological damage that eventually led to brain death, as reported by Need To Know.
Her death is the second linked to the same clinic south east of Lima, Peru.
Daniela Quispe Díaz, 23, also had liposuction at the clinic on 22 March and died two days later.
She had been given the IV solution, which allegedly contained dangerously high levels of sodium.
In total, 17 people have been affected by the faulty batch, five of whom have died.
One person is in critical condition.
A 71-year-old woman died on 28 February and a 91-year-old man died on 11 March after being given the fluids at a clinic in Trujillo.
A one-and-a-half-year-old toddler admitted to a clinic in Lima on 20 March with a fever and diarrhoea received the solution and died two days later.
Prosecutors have seized 535 bottles of the defective solution found at the clinic alone.
The authorities are worried that more victims may emerge.
The case is being investigated as suspected clinical negligence and product liability.
Juan Carlos Castillo, of the National Centre for the Supply of Strategic Health Resources, told the Peruvian Congress’s Health Commission: “If the incidents had been reported in a timely manner, we could have prevented all the others.”
READ MORE: Little girl complaining of nosebleeds after washing face in stream actually had leech up nose
