U.S. Woman, 23, Dies After Liposuction Procedure In Dominican Republic

According to Dominican authorities, a plastic surgery clinic has been shut down as they investigate the death of a U.S. woman who traveled to the country to undergo a cosmetic procedure. The 23-year-old woman traveled to the Dominican Republic to get a liposuction.

The young woman arrived to the Dominican Republic two days before her April 23 surgery but did not disclose where she was from in the U.S., said the prosecutor's office in Santo Domingo. The clinic she went to is ran by Dr. Edgar Contreras, who has already been the subject of three other probes by Dominican investigators over the years.

She is the second U.S. citizen and fourth woman to die this year at Dominican plastic surgery clinics. The other ones were a 35-year-old woman from Hawaii who died after having the same procedure, and a 24-year-old woman who died from an embolism in February after undergoing surgery to have implants removed from the buttocks.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that last year at least 19 other women in five states had developed serious mycobacterial wound infections following cosmetic procedures in the Dominican Republic such as liposuction, tummy tucks and breast and buttock implants.

The Caribbean country has promoted itself as a destination for medical tourism. And even more our citizens are so desperate to look like the next big pop star they are willing to undergo these procedures without thinking of the consequences.