Beauty therapist dies after a boob job and tummy tuck cause complications.
A 36-year-old beauty therapist from Norwich died following cosmetic procedures.
Louise Harvey paid £7,000 for breast enhancement and tummy tuck to be done at a private London hospital run by top UK cosmetic surgery firm Transform.
Both procedures were done during the three-hour operation time with no complications.
Even though the surgery went well, Louise Harvey died 17 days following her procedure after collapsing in her home due to a blood clot.
Her family history, which she submitted during the initial assessment before the surgery, reported on previous blood clots and deep vein thrombosis in her family.
Norfolk Coroner’s Court where the pre-inquest hearing happened revealed that the mother-of-three was not given anticoagulant blood thinning drugs after her surgery, which would have prevented the clots forming.
Although she has been prescribed one dose of the drug during her short say in the hospital, there was a delay in her receiving the anticoagulant. The second dose which should have been prescribed was never administered.
Since both grandmother and sister have suffered deep vein thrombosis because of blood clots, the coroner from Norfolk Area, Yyvonne Blake, inquired why Miss Harvey did not receive the drugs to take home.
Ms Blake asked about the National Institute for Health and Care excellence guidelines, specifically about the prescription of the drug after cosmetic surgery. She also questioned the private hospital’s cosmetic surgery firm about their protocol.
Ms Blake concern was that protocols which might work for the slightly younger, average patient might not have been good enough for Miss Harvey, due to her family’s medical history.
As a result of her tummy tuck, Miss Harvey was more likely to have reduced mobility which increases the possibility of a blood clot. The potential that patient’s family history was disregarded when taking care of her recovery seems likely in this case.
Following an inquest, full hearing date is to be established.
Chris Mellor, who is the representative of Transform, has stated that the prescription of the drug was not part of the strict rules and that the guidelines did not necessarily applied to this sort of surgery.
He has provided a video of the patient having mobility when discharged as evidence. Mr. Mellor also claims that the guidelines have been improved upon for the safety of the future patients, since the death of Miss Harvey. However, we must question if the firm is looking to follow through with the improved guidelines? What will be done differently?
Tim Deeming, Miss Harvey’s family legal representative, says the family would like to establish concrete explanation on how the prescription error occurred and what steps has the medical firm Transform taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.