Featured News 2013 Plastic Surgeon Charged with Killing Heart Transplant Patient

Plastic Surgeon Charged with Killing Heart Transplant Patient

In New York, a stunning woman hoping to receive cosmetic surgery was killed after a negligent doctor failed to take her previous medical surgeries into account. According to the New York Daily News, Dr. Oleg Davie was charged with causing a model's death after performing liposuction on her. The model, Isel Pineda, had had a heart transplant in 2004 and was on anti-rejection medication as a result. According to reports, the plastic surgeon was aware that his patient had received the anti-rejection medications and had a heart transplant about eight years prior. Still, she was curious about getting a liposuction procedure done to help her keep up her figure.

According to reports, Pineda was about to go on vacation when she decided to get some liposuction done on her thighs. Pineda's cardiologist had determined that she had no discernible body fat when she was examined earlier in the year. Because Pineda struggled from heart disease, it was a known fact that it was dangerous for her to undergo a cosmetic procedure. Pineda may have known this, but she still insisted on having a procedure done. While the plastic surgeon should have declined because of health concerns, Davies agreed to go ahead with the procedure and didn't even reach out to her cardiologist about the procedure. The Brooklyn District Attorney accuses Davies of disregarding patient safety and putting her in serious danger because of his lack of care.

Davie performed "smart lipo" on Pineda, which is a procedure that uses a local anesthetic. According to medical experts hired by Davies, she had a bad reaction to the procedure and this was completely unrelated to her heart ailments in the past. Davies says that the accident could have happened to anyone and that Pineda's heart was enlarged. His medical team claims that the heart transplant procedure and medications that Pineda was one didn't put her any more or less at risk to the accident. Still, other medical experts with the government beg to differ, and believe that Pineda went into cardiac arrest because of the procedure.

Pineda was in Davies office after the outpatient procedure when she collapsed. She was promptly rushed to the Coney Island Hospital where she was announced dead from a heart attack only hours after the procedure took place. After Pineda was declared dead, investigators came knocking at Davie's office door. The plastic surgeon claimed that Pineda never told him about her heart transplant, and claimed that they were not listed on her medical documents. Police suspect that Davies doctored up documents on a computer to omit all medications and her medical history. Police also claim that Davies' has no excuse because he would have noticed the obvious scar across her heart on her chest from the heart surgery and naturally would have known that there had been some sort of cardiac surgery performed.

While investigators admit that the documents that Davie's presented them did not have the medical history on them, they believe that they were photo-shopped. When the investigators asked Pineda's cardiologist for medical records, they listed all medications and the surgery in detail. The scheme also backfired on Davies after investigators discovered another copy of the correct medical record with all details in Pineda's purse. Davies lawyer currently maintains the position that while Pineda's death was a tragedy, it was not criminal. Still, he has been charged with manslaughter. While he has declared that he is not guilty of the crime, the courts will continue to explore the case and may determine that he is indeed guilty. If he is convicted of his crime, Davie may serve up to 34 years in prison. He has already surrendered his medical license because of the case.

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