CityNews – A Chiang Mai woman died while undergoing cosmetic surgery at a private clinic last week.
The woman, 30-year-old Methaya Mawong, or Fern, worked as an MC. A post-mortem shows that the cause of death was malignant hyperthermia, a rare condition usually triggered by exposure to anaesthetic drugs.
Friends and family expressed their dismay and offered condolences on social media.
“On the night of September 25, there was a mistake in an operation. Fern, my beloved girlfriend, got a high fever and had low blood pressure from ‘malignant hyperthermia’. Doctors and nurses tried to save her life, but it was not successful,” her boyfriend posted on her Facebook account.
The clinic paid compensation, her boyfriend said, according to reports. He wanted Fern’s story be a warning to others considering cosmetic surgery.
Fern was cremated on Tuesday at Ban Santonmue cemetery in Mae Ai’s Santonmue sub-district. It is believed that she was undergoing the popular but controversial ‘V-line’ surgery at the clinic in Samut Prakarn, near Bangkok. This involves changing the shape of a person’s face by reducing the prominence of cheekbones and creating a new chin. Some patients may have nose surgery too.
Dr Choltis Sinratchatanon, president of the Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Association of Thailand, was reported as saying that experienced doctors and anaesthetists are needed for this type of surgery to control the amount of medicine used.
According to Fern’s family and friends, she had had cosmetic surgery many times before, with no reaction to the anaesthetic.
Officials from Samut Prakarn Provincial Health Office went to inspect the clinic on Wednesday, but it had already been closed down and the sign had been removed. Authorities want to know if the staff at the clinic had proper physicians’ licences.