The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 93 US citizens have died as a result of cosmetic surgeries performed in the Dominican Republic, between 2009 and 2022.
More than half of the deaths occurred after 2018, reflecting the growing popularity of traveling abroad for cosmetic surgeries.
The fatal cases examined were related to liposuction, but the 92% were fat transfers to the buttocks, a procedure that seeks to achieve a more voluptuous silhouette. This surgery is also commonly known as a Brazilian butt lift or Brazilian butt lift (BBL).
All of the Americans who died were women, except for one man, and their average age was 40 years old.
Most of the deaths investigated were caused by embolisms or blockages in the bloodstream, either from blood clots or fat accumulation. In most of the fatal cases, multiple procedures were performed during the same surgery, according to risk factors identified by the CDC for cosmetic surgeries.
“The findings of this report highlight the importance of considering operative and patient risk factors when determining whether to proceed with elective cosmetic surgery,” the CDC researchers wrote.
The analysis indicated that a “high proportion of patients who died had risk factors for stroke, including obesity and performing multiple procedures during the same operation.”
According to the report, due to the increasing prevalence of deaths related to cosmetic surgery, the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic contacted the CDC, which then conducted an investigation in collaboration with the Dominican Ministry of Health.
NBC News has reached out to the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Health and the Government for comment on the report.
The dangers of medical tourism
Americans are increasingly traveling to other countries for medical procedures, known as medical tourismattracted by low costs and waiting times compared to the United States.
Such trips are not limited to the Dominican Republic, although this is a popular destination due to its strong tourism industry and that some Dominican doctors advertise in the United States, according to the CDC.
Medical tourism can have other risks not necessarily related to the operating room. In March 2023, four Americans were kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico after one of them underwent a cosmetic surgery procedure; two of them ended up dead.
(She paid $8,000 for butt lift surgery in Florida and says she lives in constant pain)
Infections and complications resulting from plastic surgeries are not limited abroad; there are also reports of failed procedures in the United States that have caused death or irreparable damage.
A separate CDC report released Thursday found 15 cases in nine states of an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection after patients underwent cosmetic surgeries at the same medical center in Florida.
