Risks of weight loss surgery in Mexico

Mexico is a cheap destination for American medical tourists seeking weight loss surgery but there are challenges on quality.

Mexico is seen as a cheap destination for American medical tourists seeking weight loss surgery but a recent death and other problems suggest that there are problems on quality and regulation.

51 year-old Irma Saenz of Los Angeles went to Tijuana, Mexico for liposuction but went into a coma and died of complications. Saez was taken from Tijuana to San Diego, California for medical treatment, but she died from the surgery’s complications.

Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery that reduces the number of fat cells in specific part of the body, but carries risks including bleeding, negative reactions to anaesthesia, and infection.

Saenz had taken an Uber from Los Angeles to the Mexico border. Once she arrived in Tijuana, she had the procedure. Then, something went wrong. She suffered lack of oxygen that caused significant brain injury, claim relatives.

Saenz had surgery at the Embellecete Aesthetic Surgery Group, and the clinic’s director, Dr Guillermo Diaz Vergara, who reportedly performed the procedure, does not appear to have training as a cosmetic surgeon, and leaders of Tijuana’s medical community are questioning his qualifications.

“The only ones who can perform liposuction are surgeons who have obtained a diploma in the specialty,”said Dr. Javier García, the head of Baja California state’s association. Díaz Vergara is not a member, nor a member of the Medical College of Tijuana that requires members to be properly certified.

Baja California authorities have been striving to showcase their state as a high-quality medical tourism destination that features top-notch facilities and highly trained doctors at lower costs on a wide range of procedures. Under state law in Baja California only certified cosmetic surgeons can perform liposuction and a range of other cosmetic procedures.