Fw: Woman dies after `discount' implant surgery

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From: " ilena rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 11:46 AM

Subject: Woman dies after `discount' implant surgery

> http://www.thestar.com/apps/ips?pagename=thestar/Render & cid=974306338078

>

> Select GTA

> Apr. 25, 04:00 EDT

> Woman dies after `discount' surgery

> Lu and Shephard

> STAFF REPORTERS

>

>

> After Thi Hanh Lan Tran, right , died just before backroom surgery,

> police issued a warrant for Minh Tam Thi Le, left.

>

> Toronto police are hunting a woman who performs plastic surgery without

> a licence after a patient seeking breast augmentation suffered seizures

> in a secret, cut-rate clinic and died.

>

> A warrant has been issued for Minh Tam Thi Le, believed to be here on a

> student visa from Vietnam, for criminal negligence causing death. Late

> Monday, her partner Tu Ngoc Nguyen, 39, the clinic's owner, was arrested

> and charged with the same offence.

>

> The bizarre case centres on what police say is an underground clinic

> located in a gray stone building on a quiet residential street. The

> clinic, which offered cosmetic surgery at discount prices, is where Thi

> Hanh Lan Tran, a 36-year-old healthy Torontowoman, went last month for a

> breast augmentation operation.

>

> Tran, married with a teenage daughter, worked as a manicurist at the

> Marca College of Hair Design and Esthetics at the Dufferin Mall.

>

> According to police, others were in the clinic's waiting area as Tran

> was taken into a room to prepare for surgery.

>

> An unlicensed doctor appeared, police say, and allegedly injected her

> with medication.

>

> That ``doctor'' had done the procedure before, drawing women from the

> Vietnamese community - where prices are 30 per cent to 50 per cent

> cheaper - for various cosmetic procedures.

>

> As Tran was moved into an operating room, police say she began to have

> seizures, quickly lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest.

>

> Clinic staff panicked, police say. Two people allegedly rushed Tran out

> the back door of the clinic into a waiting car. They arrived at Toronto

> Western Hospital at 12:20 p.m., rushing into the emergency room and

> telling hospital officials the unconscious woman had a seizure in a

> nearby bus shelter, police say.

>

> She never regained consciousness and died the following day, on March

> 20.

>

> Tran's story is shocking and seemingly unbelievable, but police and

> plastic surgeons say it's a growing problem with clinics staffed in some

> cases by untrained or unlicensed ``doctors.''

>

> ``This untimely and unnecessary death must be taken as a strong

> indication of the reasons why people within our community should not

> rely on these types of premises,'' Toronto police Detective Sergeant

> Ralph s told a news conference yesterday. ``Clearly, this practice

> is unwise and unsafe.''

>

> Le has worked under the names of Dr. Crystal Lee and Dr. Minh Tam,

> police say. She also is believed to be operating in other areas,

> including Winnipeg, on the west coast and in southern California.

>

> It is unclear whether she has had any medical training in Vietnam, but

> the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has no record of her

> under any of those names.

>

> Late yesterday, detectives obtained a business card Le used while living

> in Vietnam. Detective Alan Mac said the front of the card promotes

> the beauty parlour where she worked, while on the back of the card is a

> list of medical procedures available.

>

> In Toronto, police say, Le had been performing surgeries out of an old

> rehabilitation hospital on Dewson St., near College St. and Dovercourt

> Rd., since late fall. Le and Nguyen rented several rooms in the building

> that includes a residential care facility.

>

> Police believe Nguyen had no medical experience, adding his last job was

> at a factory.

>

> Significant evidence has been seized from the facility, but police

> refused to comment on any details including the sanitary conditions of

> the clinic.

>

> Patients apparently learned about Le's services via word-of-mouth and in

> several ads placed in ethnic newspapers.

>

> The cost for breast enlargement surgery can range on average from $4,000

> to $6,000 for a licensed physician, including anesthetist and hospital

> fees. In Tran's case, the fee was reportedly $2,500.

>

> ``It's very common for women in our community to want these changes.

> They want their noses to look smaller, eyes bigger, lips in a

> heart-shape and their chest bigger,'' said Thai, publisher of

> Toronto's Saigon Canada, a Vietnamese weekly.

>

> At Tran's funeral, Detective s said it was clear that a number of

> mourners had undergone similar surgery.

>

> Police say as patients come forward and more evidence is uncovered, they

> will expand their investigation into other unlicensed facilities.

>

> One investigator said he was aware of at least two other clinics in

> Greater Toronto. Various estheticians interviewed yesterday said they're

> often asked if they can perform these procedures.

>

> ``It's so sad. I know these women go to places in basements like this

> because they don't have the money to see a real doctor,'' said one

> College St. salon owner.

>

> Dr. ph K. Wong, a physician specializing in facial surgery, has seen

> the problem of underground clinics first-hand with botched cases.

>

> ``I have seen patients who have gone to these clinics,'' Wong said,

> adding people want to be seen by doctors who speak the same language or

> are lured by cut-rate prices there.

>

> ``I'm known in the community, so I attract difficult cases,'' he said,

> estimating up to 30 per cent of his practice involves ``revision

> surgery'' for patients unsatisfied with their operations.

>

> ``When they get into trouble, price is not a factor.''

>

> While Wong doesn't believe such illegal clinics are overwhelming

> prevalent, he confirms they do exist.

>

> ``It happens in the Vietnamese community.

>

> `` It happens in the Chinese community. I'm sure it happens everywhere

> in the world,'' he said.

>

> Dr. Semple, head of plastic surgery at Sunnybrook and Women's

> College Health Sciences Centre, said while any surgery includes risks,

> when cosmetic surgery is done under the right conditions with properly

> trained physicians and monitoring, it is low risk.

>

> ``Honestly, I have never heard of anyone dying from a breast surgery,''

> Semple said. ``It's a tragic, tragic situation.''

>

> Dr. Barry McLellan, regional supervising coroner, warned the public

> about the serious risks involved with any type of underground facility.

>

> ``When you are having a medical procedure performed, complications can

> arise. You should be in a setting where those complications can be dealt

> with,'' he said.

>

>