More plastic surgery patients share stories

More plastic surgery patients share stories Web Posted: 02-13-2005 12:00 AM CST

Lisa Marie G—mez San Antonio Express-News

A Mexican border clinic that promotes cheap cosmetic surgery to American patients has left at least several women with serious infections that disabled one and required follow-up surgery for others, the women told the San Antonio Express-News.

Several former patients of Centro de Ginecologia y Obstetricia in Nuevo Laredo contacted the newspaper last week after reading about two women who required treatment for infections from procedures at the clinic.

The Express-News focused on the clinic in two months of reporting last summer on the boom in plastic surgery in Mexican border cities. In interviews with patients, doctors on both sides of the border and government regulators, the newspaper found several cases along the border of botched surgery, disfigurement and rests from gangrene caused by infections.

Most of the border clinics are not accredited by Mexico's health ministry.

One of the women profiled in stories last Sunday, identified by her first name, Lisa, underwent at least eight procedures at Centro de Ginecologia y Obstetricia last summer.

She was treated for an infected wound from a tummy tuck at the clinic, then took herself to a San Antonio emergency room and received antibiotics for her infection.

Lisa broke off contact with the newspaper shortly after her surgeries, but told a reporter two weeks ago she was happy with her results.

Another patient, named Lynn, had complained about an infection from the same Nuevo Laredo clinic. She said the clinic was unsanitary.

"I kept bleeding on my suture," she said. "I still can't stand up perfectly straight."

David Hernandez, co-owner of the clinic, said he was aware of the complaints and claimed the patients did not care for themselves properly.

Hernandez, known as "Dr. Dave," markets his clinic from a small office on West Avenue in San Antonio. He isn't a doctor, but said he attended medical school in Monterrey, Mexico.

"For every one patient that is unhappy, there's been a hundred happy patients," he said.

His clinic is not accredited, according to Mexican government records. But plastic surgeons at the clinic are certified by professional organizations.

Like many Mexican clinics, Hernandez's offers cosmetic procedures at steep discounts from typical American prices.

A woman named Suzanne called the newspaper after the articles appeared to talk about her experience with the clinic.

Suzanne, 50, had a tummy tuck in March 2002 and said her sutures ripped open and wouldn't heal.

She called Hernandez to complain about her surgery and said he promptly sent her back to the clinic to treat her problem.

"But when we got there, they wanted us to sign a legal document written in Spanish," said Suzanne, who doesn't understand Spanish. "I refused to sign it."

She and her husband left the clinic without getting treated. She wound up in an emergency room in San Antonio when her infection got worse.

"My family physician told me I had gangrene," she said.

Her doctor cleaned her infection and sbreastched her back up, but the incision opened up again. She ended up traveling to Nuevo Laredo a third time, where a doctor cleaned out the infection and re-sbreastched her.

"That happens if you don't take care of yourself," Hernandez said Friday. "It happens in the States. It happens here. It happens in France. It happens in England. It happens all over the world."

Suzanne said she did take care of herself properly and doesn't understand why she got infected.

Today, she's left with a fist-sized depression below her navel made up of scar tissue.

"It looks horrible," Suzanne said. "My clothes don't fit right."

Mexican health officials said American patients can seek recourse against clinics in Mexico, but they must document their surgery and ensure they were treated by a certified physician. No American has filed a complaint with a Mexican state arbitration board in the past decade.

Hernandez, complaining about negative publicity of his clinic, asked a patient who was treated there in September to share her story with the newspaper.

Pat had an infection that caused tissue breakdown in her breasts 35 years ago. She said she suffered repeated problems after getting implants in Austin and San Antonio.

First she received silicone implants. But after the silicone scare in the 1990s, she had them replaced with saline implants.

The surgery left her breasts looking asymmetrical and unnatural.

"My breasts used to look natural, but after that surgery they looked odd," the woman said.

She went back for more surgery at least three times to try to get her breasts repaired. She said she spent more than $10,000 with two San Antonio surgeons.

Still unhappy with her results, she sought help from Hernandez and came back happy.

"I'm really amazed at how well it turned out, I really wasn't sure," she said.

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