28-year-old US citizen dies in Dominican Republic as liposuction performed by gynecologist goes awry
A 28-year-old restaurant worker from New York City reportedly died while undergoing liposuction at a clinic in the Dominican Republic.
His mother is now calling on US authorities to investigate his death amid the slew of Americans dying mysteriously in the Caribbean country.
Manuel Nuñez of Upper Manhattan died Tuesday after he scheduled his third liposuction procedure in his native country with a doctor, Telemundo 47 reported.
Nuñez worked at Dominican-cuisine restaurant Mamajuana Cafe in Inwood where they held a vigil Wednesday for him, according to an employee's social media account.
His mother, Teresa de Jesús Batista Ramírez, said she pleaded with him not to get the surgery before he left. “Do not do that lipo, you’ve already done two,” the mother recalled.
She revealed that her son made an appointment and traveled to Santo Domingo’s Caribbean Plastic Surgery Clinic, the same place he’d previously undergone two procedures earlier.
While undergoing surgery, Nuñez went into respiratory failure and the staff wasn’t able to resuscitate him, according to his mom.
The young man's family later learned that the physician who performed the surgery, Dr. Oscar Polanco, was a gynecologist and not a plastic surgeon.
In 2015, Polanco also was arrested and incarcerated for three months after two women lost their lives at the Body Weight Loss and Aesthetic Institute, according to the same report.
The case, however, was dismissed at the time due to a lack of evidence in the matter. It was further reported that the con doctor was ordered to pay $2 million Dominican pesos ($450,000) to the families.
It is reported that, so far, at least six American tourists have died under mysterious circumstances in the Dominican Republic; four people died this year while two died last year. All the people were healthy when they went to the Caribbean country.