Operative buttock enlargements are booming. After deaths, a Düsseldorf doctor is now on trial – and protests his innocence. The process threatens to become a battle of experts.
Düsseldorf – The desire for a luscious buttocks makes the tills ring for cosmetic surgeons all over the world. Also in Düsseldorf, a stronghold of plastic surgery, dissatisfied women lay down rows on the operating tables with their bodies.
Two of them, 20 and 42 years old, died shortly after the procedure in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Her surgeon is now facing between three and 15 years in prison. But the doctor is not aware of any guilt.
“Lege artis” – the Latin term is used more often in the large room E.116 of the Düsseldorf Regional Court. The term means: According to the rules of medical art. While the defense attorneys around the accused doctor are of the opinion that his interventions had fully complied with these rules, which is why the 50-year-old should be acquitted, Public Prosecutor Uwe Kessel has a completely different view and speaks of “gross violations of the duties of a doctor”.
He has charged the doctor with bodily harm resulting in death in two cases and negligent bodily harm in a third case. In addition, a case of abuse of title has been attached: The doctor is said to have used his doctorate without the country suffix “(ir)” for Iran, although he acquired it there.
In his practice, the doctor has been offering buttock enlargements by means of autologous fat implantation (“Brazilian Butt Lift”) for years. A popular method that is viewed critically by many plastic surgeons because of its risk. The death rate is put at 1: 3000.
The body’s own fat that is injected again poses a particular danger: If the tiny lumps of fat get into the bloodstream, there is a risk of a fatal embolism.
The indictment is based on an expert opinion that accuses the surgeon of a number of errors. So was not sufficiently informed about the risks of the interventions. The consent of the patients was thus ineffective.
The operation and the subsequent treatment of the 42-year-old against thrombosis should have been carried out as an inpatient and not as an outpatient. In addition, the procedure should only have been performed with an anesthetist.
Neither liposuction nor injection was done properly. Follow-up observation and aftercare was missing. The woman died of complications from the operation. The cause of death was blood loss in combination with a fat embolism.
In 2018, more than twelve liters of liquid were sucked out of the 20-year-old. In an outpatient operation, however, only a maximum of five liters are allowed. An anesthetic was dosed eight times too high. In addition, the doctor administered illegal medication.
The doctor and his defense counsel, on the other hand, cite several counter-reports and reject all allegations. There is no five-liter limit, and the information about the risks was flawless and detailed.
There was no overdose and it has not been proven. Instead of an anesthetist, the defendant’s wife, as a trained nurse, monitored the patients’ vital functions. The cause of death had not been clearly established in at least one case. At least eleven further negotiation days are planned for the process.
“This dramatic case clearly shows that the legal situation in Germany is far from sufficient to effectively protect patients from unqualified surgeons”, criticized Prof. Lukas Prantl, President of the German Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (DGPRÄC) . The new federal government will seek better protection. dpa
