Going overseas for cut rate cosmetic surgery fraught with life threatening risks - Health Dept warns

NY woman ailing from infection contracted during overseas cosmetic surgery offers warning to women

Linda McFaline went to the Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery and came back with an infection that almost cost her life 

McFaline, 40, says she has a hole in her breast caused by an infection she contracted after getting implants and liposuction in the Dominican Republic

NY Health Dept has identified a cluster of skin and tissue infections associated with plastic surgery done in that country 

The infections, called Mycobacterium abscessus/chelonae, attack the skin or soft tissue 

It's been found in 10 women, eight in New York City, including McFaline, and two in Connecticut

DOH warns it has isolated a rash of similar infection contracted by patients of named cosmetic surgery clinics

Advises  infected persons to seek medical attention 

Linda McFaline now has a hole in her breast caused by a bacterial infection she contracted after plastic surgery in the Dominican Republic

Linda McFaline went to the Dominican Republic for cosmetic surgery and came back with an infection that could have killed her. McFaline knew that she had an infection in the implants in her breasts from the moment that the same began to redden.
The 40-year-old desired the voluptuous body considered a hallmark of beauty for a Latina, where was best for this 'Fix'  but a surgeon 'experienced in molding Latina bodies'  in the Dominican Republic.
The outcome was disastrous, and she’s not alone, according to the NY Department Of Health.
So far, eight women living in New York City, including McFaline, suffered serious skin and tissue infections that nearly killed them after plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures were performed at a clinic in the Dominican Republic that was contaminated with a dangerous bacterium.
The department has identified a cluster of skin and tissue infections associated with plastic surgery done in the country, it said.
The infections, called Mycobacterium abscessus/chelonae, attack the skin or soft tissue.
McFaline said she wants to share her horror story to warn off other women whose pursuit of beauty could put them in danger.
“I almost died. Look at my breast, I have a hole in my breast, just because I wanted to look better and have a better body,” she said. “And it almost cost my life.”

Linda McFaline knew that she had an infection in her breast implants from the moment that the began to redden.

The city has been working with the Centers for Disease Control since May to investigate every skin infection here associated with “lipotourism”, to the country.
There have been no deaths from this cluster, DOH said, and it is not connected to the death of Janelle Edwards, 25, found dead this month after surgery in the country.
New York Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett noted that eight of the women had surgery at the same facility, Centro International de Cirugía Estética (CIPLA) in Santo Domingo, between March 2, 2017 and April 27, 2017: "We urge anyone who has received cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic and developed a skin infection to seek medical care immediately," Commissioner Bassett said.

 Linda McFaline ended up with life threatening infection and holes in her breasts

In the case of Linda McFaline, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Irish origin, almost lost her life after the serious infection she suffered after several plastic surgeries in the Dominican Republic on March 13.
McFaline said she went to CIPLA update and reduce breast implants she’d gotten from a different doctor 10 years ago, and to get liposuction.
"I did liposuction all over my body and a reduction and breast implants. When I returned to New York on March 28 I had a fever of 105 degrees, I felt very weak and could not move.”
Mcfaline, a 40-year-old single mother confessed that she opted for surgery in the Dominican Republic not because she wanted to save money for being cheaper, but because she believes that surgeons there "have more experience molding your body because they work with many Latinas," not only did not achieve the beauty that Longed, but has been disfigured and now must be connected to intravenous medicines for several months.
"They had to have emergency surgery to remove the two implants because I was getting pus from both breasts. Now I have two holes in the chest and I have to use two different types of antibiotics until November, "said the patient who suffered physical disorders in addition to the physical scars.
Linda Mcfaline knew she had an infection in her breast implants from the time they started to redden.
"This has been very strong. I have a lot of depression and a lot of anxiety and I'm taking lots of medicines and pills. I really found myself in a situation where I could have died, "said the woman who had been hospitalized for more than two months.
“I was very nervous, and I was nervous since I was in New York, because I haven’t done surgery in over 10 years,” she said. “I’m 40, going in under anesthesia.”
There were things that worried her when she arrived in Santo Domingo, too — her surgery was at 11:30 p.m., and she said her doctor, Wilfredo Rodriguez-Pena, was rude. But the operating room was clean, she said, and she was there, so she pushed past her fear.
At first, she felt a little weak. But by the time she returned to New York, on a Monday, she was running a 105-degree fever and began taking antibiotics and Tylenol. By Wednesday, she saw redness around her breast and sent a picture to a surgeon in New York, who advised her it was infected.
By Friday, she couldn’t move.
On April 1, she decided to go to the emergency room at Lenox Hill Hospital and there they told her she had a Mycobacterium, and removed both implants. When her surgeon there asked to speak to Dr. Rodriguez-Pena, who’d done the surgery, he refused.
Rodriguez-Pena told McFaline’s cousin, who was acting as her spokesperson since she was too sick, that she should leave the implants alone and return to the Dominican Republic.
“This is the only thing you can say, and then you don’t want to speak to the doctor?” McFaline recalled her cousin’s shock.

NY Health Commissioner Mary Bassett urges people who had plastic surgery in the Dominican Rep to seek medical attention if they notice signs of an infection

She spent two months in the hospital, she said, afraid and depressed.
“In back of my mind I’m saying, I'm going to die,’” she said. “Even though I wanted to be positive, we’re human and we think like that.”
McFaline is now back home, but with a PICC line for intravenous meds, and what she described as a hole in her breast. She’ll be medicated through November to keep fighting off the infection, she said.
And while the surgeries in the Dominican Republican came at the bargain price of $5,300, her recovery has cost her much more, removing the implants alone was $10,000, she said.
But the surgeries are a big lure to some women — the night she went under the knife, the waiting room at the facility was packed, she said, with around 30 other women. A friend recently underwent surgery in the same place, even after knowing about McFaline’s ordeal.
“Life is too short to waste your life in surgery,” she said.

Janelle Brown died of complications from a series of plastic surgeries she got in the Dominican Republic

Just weeks ago, another Bronx woman, Janelle Edwards, died of complications from a series of plastic surgeries she got in the Dominican Republic, police said.
Family members told detectives that the mother-of-two complained of stomach and breast pain immediately she returned from her 1,500-mile medical vacation trip to the Dominican Republic. Edwards, 25, was found unconscious in her car on Bellamy Loop near Co-op City Blvd. in Co-op City at 8:10 p.m. June 8.

Her parents found her slumped behind the wheel and called police. Tragically Edwards a staff of Montefiore Medical Center’s Albert Einstein Hospital, died 30 minutes later at the same hospital where she worked.
Doctors believe Edwards died of a blood clot caused by her recent surgeries. As far as the family is concerned, the operations — breast enhancement, a tummy tuck and butt implants, which were performed in Santo Domingo,  led to her death leaving the family no legal recourse.