A Brazilian couple in the United States have been charged with drug possession and distribution, illegal possession of a hypodermic needle and unauthorized practice of medicine without a license after a female patient died following liposuction.
Authorities say the pair performed liposuction in the basement of a home and have taken their passports and placed them both on bail.
Luiz Carlos Ribeiro, 49 is a licensed doctor in Brazil but has no license to practice in the U.S. and he and Ana Maria Miranda Ribeiro have pleaded not guilty to the charges at their arraignment.
The couple are accused of performing an illegal liposuction on Fabiola DePaula, 24, of Framingham who was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital.
District Attorney Martha Coakley says autopsy results will not be available for several days, and charges could then be upgraded.
Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty (fat modeling) or suction lipectomy (suction-assisted fat removal) is a cosmetic surgery operation which removes fat from many different sites on the human body such as the abdomen, thighs, buttocks, neck, arms.
The fat is usually removed via a cannula and aspirator and is not regarded as an alternative to exercise and diet but is more a form of body contouring.
The amount of fat removed varies but the average amount is typically less than 10 pounds (5 kg).
The procedure may be performed under general or local anesthesia and the safety of the technique depends on the amount of tissue removed, the choice of anesthetic, the patient's overall health and the doctor carrying out the procedure.