British woman dies after American cosmetic treatment
US police have launched an investigation into how a British 20-year-old died after travelling to America to have cosmetic surgery to her buttocks.
Claudia Adusei, 20, from London, suffered medical complications after the cosmetic surgery in Philadelphia on Monday.
She had travelled to Philadelphia with three friends and had injections in her buttocks to enhance the shape.
After the treatment Ms Adusei began to suffer chest pains and had trouble breathing.
She was rushed from her hotel, the Hampton Inn in south west Philadelphia where the treatment was carried out, to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. She later died.
US police have now launched an investigation and detectives are looking for those who carried out the procedure.
Police said it appeared the treatment has been arranged over the internet. The results of a post-mortem examination by the Delaware County medical examiner’s office have not been released.
“We’re not quite sure right now if that person performing that procedure is licensed or unlicensed,” said Lieutenant John Walker, of the Philadelphia police south-west detectives division.
“We’re still working that information right now.”
Lt Walker said investigators were also awaiting test results to determine the substance used.
Surgery ‘popular’
A British expert said today that more and more women were opting for surgery to enhance the shape of their bottoms.
Paul Harris, consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Marsden hospital in London, warned of the risks associated with having unlicensed treatment and of young women going overseas for “medical tourism”.
“Bottom augmentation is becoming more popular and originated in South America, in places like Brazil,” he said.
“More and more people are coming forward in the UK for this procedure.”
Mr Harris warned against people having silicone injections, saying he had personally dealt with two patients who suffered problems after receiving the jabs overseas.
Silicone is designed to be a permanent filler and creates a smooth, rounded shape but liquid silicone injections are banned in most countries.
“The risks of pure silicone injections have been known for many years,” said Mr Harris, who is a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
“It is not practice in the UK to inject pure silicone. It’s not used for cosmetic procedures anymore because of the risks associated with it.
“The problems are two fold. Firstly, if you use a low volume amount of silicone it can promote rejection – the body trying to ward it off.
“That causes a long-term abscess which can damage the surrounding tissue.
“Elsewhere in the world it has been reported to cause problems with pulmonary embolism – a blood clot to the lungs – which may have happened in this most recent case.
“It’s rare for it to be a problem in the UK but people do go elsewhere in the world and then come back to Britain to have the issues sorted out.”