Can Cosmetic Surgery Be Fatal? Bronx Woman Warns Others After Contracting Deadly Skin Infection

A Bronx woman shared her horror story after undergoing a cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic that left her with a skin infection that could have killed her. According to the New York Daily News, Linda McFaline warned other women of the dangers of the procedure.

The Health Department has found many women who underwent plastic surgery in Dominican Republic contracted an infection, called Mycobacterium abscessus/chelonae, that attacked the skin or soft tissue. Ten women, eight in New York City, including McFaline, and two in Connecticut were infected with the bacteria after returning to the U.S. following the procedure.

“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,” McFaline said. “And it almost cost my life.”

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It's been a month since health officials in New York City have been working with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to investigate every skin infection associated with “lipotourism” to Dominican Republic.

"We urge anyone who has received cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic and developed a skin infection to seek medical care immediately," Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said, urging people to choose a doctor and facility that is licensed.

Eight of the women, who contracted the infection, had surgery at the same facility, Centro International de Cirugía Estética (CIPLA) in Santo Domingo, between March 2 and April 27.

McFaline went to CIPLA in March to reduce breast implants she had got from a different doctor 10 years ago, and to get liposuction.

“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, according to the Daily News. “I’m 40, going in under anesthesia.”

McFaline said that when she returned to New York she felt weak and later got a 105-degree fever. Just two days later, she saw redness around her breast and sent a picture to a surgeon in New York, who advised her it was infected. She got admitted at Lenox Hill Hospital where doctors found the infection in her breast and removed both implants. She spent two months in the hospital, McFaline said, afraid and depressed.

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“In back of my mind I’m saying, I'm going to die,’” McFaline said. “Even though I wanted to be positive, we’re human and we think like that.” She said the surgeries in the Dominican Republican cost $5,300, but removing the implants alone cost $10,000.

There have been no deaths from Mycobacterium abscessus/chelonae, the health department said, adding the cases were not linked to the death of Janelle Edwards, 25, found dead this month after surgery in Dominican Republic. The Bronx mother died of complications from a series of plastic surgeries she got in the country.