Melissa Esmeralda Guzmán Alarcón, 33, was rushed to the ICU in critical condition after a severe reaction to an IV just hours into her liposuction surgery – leaving her with brain damage
A young woman has become the fifth person to die after being injected with a defective saline solution during liposuction.
Melissa Esmeralda Guzmán Alarcón tragically died on April 7 after spending two weeks in intensive care. The 33-year-old was rushed to the unit in critical condition after a severe reaction to a saline solution given to her during the procedure. Melissa developed serious complications just hours into her liposuction surgery on March 23, leaving her with severe neurological damage that eventually led to brain death. Her death is the second linked to the same clinic south east of Lima, Peru.
On March 22, Daniela Quispe Diaz, 23, also had liposuction at the same clinic and died just two days later. She had been given the same dodgy IV solution, which allegedly contained dangerously high levels of sodium. Her heartbroken family gathered outside the medical facility after her death, demanding answers. Daniela’s mother, visibly shaken, demanded a thorough investigation: “I want to know what happened to my daughter,” she said, while pushing for accountability after the fatal outcome.
An investigation has been launched to determine whether medical negligence occurred during the operation. Authorities will look at the protocols followed and the substances applied during the cosmetic procedure. In total, 17 people have been affected by the faulty batch, five of whom have died.
One person is in critical condition. A 71-year-old woman died on February 28 and a 91-year-old man died on March 11 after being given the fluids at a clinic in Trujillo, Peru. A one-and-a-half-year-old toddler admitted to a clinic in Lima on March 20 with a fever and diarrhoea received the solution and tragically died two days later.
535 bottles of the defective IV solution were found at the clinic and seized by prosecutors. Local police now fear more victims may emerge. Juan Carlos Castillo, of the National Centre for the Supply of Strategic Health Resources, told the Peruvian Congress’s Health Commission: “If the incidents had been reported in a timely manner we could have prevented all the others.”
Peru’s Ministry of Health (Minsa) issued a health alert, urging health facilities to withdraw all units from the affected batch and report any related adverse effects.