Who is Linda Perez? Florida Teen Left Brain Damaged From Cosmetic Surgery Complications
A routine cosmetic surgery procedure had unexpected consequences for an 18-year-old Florida woman.
Linda Perez went into Coral Gables Cosmetic Center in Miami for breast augmentation surgery on Aug. 12, 2013. But just an hour after her surgery, Perez experienced complications that sent her into an almost two-month coma, the Miami Herald reports. Perez awoke from her vegetative state in October, unable to walk, talk or care for herself.
Speaking to the Herald, her mother Mariela Diaz said her daughter is just a shell of who she was before her surgery: “She sees that she cannot walk, and when she realizes what happened to her she cries." Perez now requires 24-hour care from her family.
The family's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, told the New York Daily News that his client "is not doing physically well" and he claims the clinic is responsible. "A healthy 18-year-old should be able to undergo a routine surgical procedure and not end up in a vegetative state," said Perez.
But attorney Kubs Lalchandani, who is representing the cosmetic center where the surgery was conducted, argues that Perez may have had some previous medical issues that she did reveal ahead of her procedure. "We have conducted our own investigation and I have requested medical records from Ms. Perez's family, including her toxicology reports, and I have been stonewalled," he told the Daily News.
Perez's surgeon, Dr. Jacob Freiman, filed an earlier report that said the issues Perez encountered following her surgery were similar to problems she had during childbirth. “They put a spinal anesthetic, and she needed to be intubated,” Freiman wrote in his report. But he claims the information was held so that the surgery would be performed.
But Eiglarsh says the claim isn't valid and was "manufactured by the cosmetic center lawyer in an obvious attempt to blame the victim and avoid responsibility for their gross negligence."
Freiman is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and doesn't have any previous history of malpractice complaints. The family hasn't filed a lawsuit in the case. But Eiglarsh told the Miami Herald that they plan to file a medical malpractice suit against the cosmetic center.
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