Dr faces 6 years in prison for breast lift death
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A doctor who performed an illegal breast lift operation at a beauty salon in Hanoi, causing the death of a 39-year-old woman, faces up to six years in prison.
Dr. Pham Van Ai, director of Hanoi Beauty Salon in Hanoi’s Dong Da District, has pleaded guilty to accidentally causing a human death due to violating professional regulations, Dong Da police said yesterday.
He faces a prison sentence between one and six years. Ai has been released on bail, according to police.
On April 29, Bui Bich Loc arrived at the beauty salon at 257 Giai Phong Street in Dong Da District for a double eyelid and breast lift operation estimated at US$2,840.
Ai, another doctor and two nurses conducted the operation at about 1 p.m. and Loc was taken to the post-operation recovery room one hour later.
At 2 a.m. on April 30, Loc told Ai she was having trouble breathing and was nauseous. Ai called two other doctors to help him give emergency treatment to her, but she died one hour later.
The salon was only licensed to perform simple surgeries such as eyelid lifts. It did not have the proper license to perform more complicated procedures like breast lifts, said Nguyen Viet Cuong, chief inspector of the Hanoi Health Department.
Earlier this year, the salon was fined for providing unlicensed services, he said.
An investigator said Ai made a mistake during the breast lift surgery and the investigation agency is waiting for the autopsy results to make a full conclusion about the death.
