All were guinea pigs: clinic in Rio is investigated for deaths and mutilations in plastic surgeries

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro is investigating the deaths of three women and inquiries into reports from at least 30 patients who were victims of surgical violence and serious complications after procedures in an aesthetics clinic in Laranjeiras, in the South Zone of the capital. According to the investigations, postgraduate students performed interventions in place of the responsible doctors, leaving permanent marks, deformities, and mutilations. Among the cases under investigation is that of the nursing technician Isabely, 42, who died on the operating table after suffering cardiac arrest during a plastic surgery on the abdomen. "My daughter left all excited to have this surgery, all excited. And before she entered the room, mother, I'm already going. Blessing, God bless you, daughter. She never came back to me, never again," recounts the victim's mother. Isabely's widower, Cosme, stated that the responsible doctor communicated that the patient experienced successive complications during the procedure. "He said there was a complication. That she had an eight-minute pause, then she had to be revived, then another two-minute pause, then another pause," he says. The family discovered that the professional responsible for anesthesia graduated in 2023 and did not possess the specialization required by law. At the same address, Jéssica, 32, died after two months of hospital stay due to generalized infection. Her husband, Geneir, claims that she returned to the place dissatisfied with the results of interventions on her chest and stomach. Before the repair, the doctor suggested a rib remodelling—a technique prohibited in Brazil for aesthetic purposes, which aims to slim the waist by folding the last ribs and poses a risk of intestinal perforation. The complication perforated the patient's organ. "Then our nightmare happened. The doctor told me to take the intestine, clean it, to wash it. Then he washed it again," the widower said, reporting that surgical washing occurred at least 20 times. "Then when we thought that the operation had worked, then she had to be operated on again." Suspicious agreements and the action of postgraduates The main attraction of the Celita Toledo clinic was the offer of plastic surgeries at lower prices, with promotion on social media promoting intensive care unit (ICU) days included in the packages. The establishment has been the subject of police investigation for about six months; in recent actions, one partner and a Peruvian doctor without professional registration were arrested and released after testimony. The investigation identified the existence of agreements between the unit and educational institutions that offer postgraduate courses in plastic surgery in Brazil for doctors trained in other Latin American countries. The focus is to confirm whether the students operated without supervision. "The existence of an agreement between a hospital and an educational institution is perfectly normal. They should be just observing students to learn the techniques of surgery, but it seems that, in addition to that, they operated and acted as trained surgeons, the patient's betrayal, and the worst of all is that the documents do not say this, the documents presented by the hospital identify another doctor as if he were the surgeon," states the delegate responsible for the case. Inspections by the Regional Council of Medicine of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Cremerj) pointed to the absence of a post-anesthesia recovery room, lack of an anesthesiologist, and irregular use of postgraduates in the mandatory role of assistant surgeon. The council initiated a procedure to suspend the clinic, which is still operating. Municipal Health Surveillance also notified the unit for finding expired medications and items without sterilization. The owner Celita Toledo denied irregularities and stated that the surgeries were conducted by qualified professionals. "This doesn't happen, no, I don't agree. The surgeries are done by doctors, who are plastic surgeons, with CRM, with everything, and accompanied by postgraduates," she declared. The businesswoman said she would cooperate with public bodies: "I tell you for sure that the hospital is open, all the investigation, everything, everything I can do to contribute, I will do it. Did the hospital lack something? No, it didn't lack anything." When asked about points to correct, she replied: "What needs to improve, perhaps, is selecting the public, perhaps that is what I have to improve." Complications, necrosis, and mutilations In addition to the three deaths, the police inquiry gathers reports from other 24 women with sequelae and mutilations. Professor Adriane Oliveira suffered abdominal necrosis and severe infection after a procedure in the abdominal area. "The doctor asked me to return. He looked and removed some tapes they put on your stomach, when they removed them skin started to come out, my skin started to come out. He said: 'no, it's normal'. After about three days, the surgery started to turn black," she recounts. "I am deformed, I don't have a stomach, I don't have the courage to bring my stomach out, I don't have the courage to look at myself in the mirror. I look at myself and I don't see myself. And then to say that it's normal?" Other patients report asymmetries and suspect the presence of multiple operators in the same surgery. Gisele Reis, who had her axillary glands removed, stated that the cuts and stitches on each side of the body were completely divergent. "The stitches looked like I was in a butcher shop, in a slaughterhouse. And I am absolutely sure that there were two different people. Because one axilla has a specific cut and had a specific type of stitch, and the other axilla had another specific cut, another type of stitch. Totally different," she reports. Thayze Santos sought the clinic for mastopexy with implant and found unequal shapes in her breasts. "I have a very large cut here to here. And this breast, it's more round and this one is oval. Then it's totally unequal. They made a mistake. Very ugly. It's horrible," the patient states. She refused the clinic's offer for repair: "More and more cases are appearing of people dying, necrotizing and everything else. I am dying of fear to go back there to redo it." Relatives and victims demand the immediate suspension of the establishment and punishment of those involved. "That's why I am here, I am asking someone to do something, to close that clinic, so another mother doesn't go through what I am going through," asks Isabely's mother. When asked if the patients served as test subjects during the interventions, one of the victims summarizes: "They did, they did. All of them were test subjects. All." Listen to the Fantastic podcasts The Isso É Fantástico podcast is available on g1 and on the main podcast applications, bringing great reports, investigations, and fascinating stories in podcast with the Fantastic journalism seal: depth, context, and information. Follow, like, or subscribe to Isso É Fantástico on your favorite podcast player. There is a new episode every Sunday.