Lorena Beltran is out of trouble but the pretty features of her face harden when she talks about her operation. In 2015, his chest hurt his back. Then 20 years old, the student with long black hair resolves to proceed to a breast reduction in a clinic in the north of Bogota. Afterwards, Francisco Sales Puccini, his surgeon, repeats to him that “everything is normal”. However, the result is catastrophic. “I had one breast larger than the other, my stitches were very far apart from each other and my scar did not close,” recalls the young woman, now responsible for communication at a university. of the capital. She quickly discovers that her “specialist” has only had thirty days of training in Brazil, whereas the normal course in Colombia includes five years of general medicine and four of specialization. Since this intimate drama, she has been campaigning against charlatans, advising the victims of failed operations and establishing herself in public debate as one of the best experts on the subject.
This is a real social phenomenon in Colombia, where more than 200,000 cosmetic surgery procedures are performed each year. After Brazil (1.3 million procedures), Mexico (456,000) and Argentina (284,000), the country is the fourth largest market in Latin America – the two most common operations are mammoplasty and liposuctions. “In this part of the world, plastic surgery first developed in Brazil thanks to the work of the famous surgeon Ivo Pitanguy – who died in 2016 -, relates his colleague Herley Aguirre Serrano, who studied the history of the specialty. She then became popular in Venezuela, known for her beauty queens, before becoming more popular in Colombia from the 1990s. In this Andean country, around 20% of the clientele comes from elsewhere. “Our foreign patients come from the United States, the Caribbean and even from Europe”, indicates Pablo Gutierrez, in Bogota, where he directs the Depiel clinic. “This clientele is attracted by the quality of the surgeons but also by the attractive prices, specifies the entrepreneur. Here, a mammoplasty costs 4000 dollars, twice as much as in the United States.”
400 failed operations and dozens of deaths since 2015
But Lorena Beltran is not the only victim of an unscrupulous practitioner, far from it. In recent years, medical accidents have multiplied in this Latin country of 50 million inhabitants. The latest report from the Institute of Forensic Medicine, which dates back to 2016, indicated that mortality due to cosmetic surgery procedures had increased by 130% in one year, or thirty deaths compared to thirteen the previous year. Last January, Arelis Cabeza, a pretty 38-year-old engineer who still wanted to improve her appearance, died a few hours after the intervention of the very controversial Dr. Yesid Martinez, in Bogota. She leaves behind a 9-year-old boy. More recently, in April, an overweight American woman in her forties, who wanted to reduce her stomach to get back into shape, died following an operation performed by Dr. Carlos Sales Puccini… who is none other than Francisco’s brother – the “butcher” mentioned above. Another example, two patients lost their lives six months after passing through the hands of Dr. Giovanni Cortes who practices in Cali and has nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram. He who claims to have trained in Brazil is being sued by 27 Panamanian women. They accuse him of falsifying documents. “His diploma was never validated by the Brazilian authorities, but was approved in Colombia: how is such a thing possible?” indignant their lawyer Wyznick Ortega, reached by telephone.
Aberrations of this kind are not exceptional. Because the expanding market attracts scammers. “We find among them general practitioners but also hairdressers and chefs!” alert Lorena Beltran. Since 2015, it has identified 400 failed operations. Today, about forty doctors are the subject of a report, of which 17 are being prosecuted. Last January, a beauty salon in Ibagué (west of Bogota) was subject to administrative closure. The reason ? One of his surgeons was actually… a mechanic! The mechanic had swapped his spanners for a scalpel and was operating without the slightest authorization.
Instagram, ideal showcase for scammers
Some more qualified sorcerer’s apprentices take advantage of a legal vacuum. “It is not strictly forbidden for a doctor who is not a specialist in cosmetic surgery to offer this type of service”, explains Luis de Voz who operates on an upscale clientele, north of Bogota. This gray area opens the door to dangerous practices: “Some offer price reductions to patients who agree to undergo several simultaneous operations. However, everyone knows that this increases the risk of complications.”
Psychologically weakened, some patients allow themselves to be seduced by fine speeches. And by Instagram where many doctors publish reassuring images, in particular postoperative selfies in the company of patients who testify to their satisfaction. “It’s easy for practitioners to delete negative comments and present themselves in a flattering light,” warns Catalina Bejarano, 27, an administrative manager who had her breasts reduced a few years ago and plans to go back. on the pool table. “A friend of mine found her surgeon on Instagram and she’s far from the only one,” laments the one who would never use such a method to make her choice.
For the agrefins, the social network is an ideal showcase. Busty influencers, with plump lips, convey canons of beauty that feed the aesthetic imagination of patients. “Many young women show me photos of Instagram models and ask me to reproduce the same thing, recognizes the elegant doctor Luis de Voz. However, their requests are not necessarily realistic”, he adds with a pout of perplexity. For her part, Lorena Beltran confirms: “Many women measure the supposed competence of a surgeon by the number of followers on Instagram; there is a huge amount of prevention work to be done and, also, raising awareness in society. Because often, the reproach is thrown on the patients. But we must reverse the accusation: we are not victims of our vanity but of incompetent surgeons.
“A powerful lobby is blocking reforms”
These are rarely worried. When investigations are opened, they lay low, then reappear as another status. “After a few weeks, they are reopening a practice under another name, enrages the activist, who details his ordeal. This drama cost me money, tears, psychiatric treatment and even a suicide attempt.” His executioner, he continues to crack down despite a court order ordering him to cease all activity related to cosmetic surgery.
The Colombian Society of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery (SCCP, 900 members) is trying to clean up. The union has set up a certification system that is supposed to guarantee the quality of surgeons. “A committee verifies the validity of the diplomas of new practitioners, their professional background and their possible participation in professional conventions”, explains the president of the SCCP Maria Isabel Cadena.
For seven years, five bills aimed at regulating the practice have been presented to Congress. All ended in failure. “A powerful lobby is blocking reforms and advocating the status quo so that nothing comes to hinder business,” denounces Oscar Ospina Quintero, a former environmentalist deputy who defended one of the bills. In the meantime, the list of victims is growing week after week, without the health authorities taking hold of the problem.