Woman dies after undergoing six cosmetic procedures in a day
A woman died after undergoing six cosmetic surgeries within 24 hours.
The South China Morning Post reported on Nov. 10 that the family of the woman, surnamed Liu, is set to receive compensation from the clinic over her death.
According to the SCMP, Liu visited a clinic located in the city of Nanning on Dec. 9, 2020. She took out a loan of over 40,000 yuan (P325,000) to finance six cosmetic procedures.
In the afternoon, Liu underwent double eyelid surgery and a nose job for five hours. It was followed by a liposuction procedure on her thighs, with the fat injected into her face and breasts the next morning for also five hours.
But on Dec. 11, when Liu was discharged from the clinic, she suddenly collapsed before reaching the elevator.
Clinic staff did an emergency response and transferred her to the local hospital, but was declared dead later in the afternoon.
The autopsy report showed Liu died from “acute respiratory failure due to pulmonary embolism after liposuction."
Her family sued the clinic, seeking compensation of 1.18 million yuan (P9.5 million).
Before the lawsuit, Liu's husband said the clinic offered him 200,000 yuan (P1.6 million) in a "private settlement" but refused. "I said we should just go to court," he said.
Investigations showed the clinic had the legal documents needed for the procedure, and the two doctors involved in Liu's procedure were legally licensed.
The volume of fat removed also complied with medical standards.
During legal proceedings, the clinic argued that Liu understood the risks associated with cosmetic surgery and that the autopsy report didn't substantiate malpractice claims.
The clinic, however, failed to comply with requests to provide their treatment standards to multiple agencies the court had commissioned.
The court initially ruled that the clinic was responsible for Liu's death and was ordered to pay her family over a million yuan (over P9 million).
The clinic appealed the ruling and in August 2023, the court found that it was only partially responsible for Liu's death. It suggested that Liu's own physical condition might have also contributed to her death.
Still, the court found the clinic failed to assess the risk of venous blood embolism, or blood clotting in the veins, "identifying certain errors in their medical practices that were causally related to the patient’s death."
The court ordered the clinic to pay Liu's family 590,000 yuan (P4.7 million), from over a million yuan.