Kannada actress dies during fat removal surgery, parents allege negligence

Father of the deceased stressed that no consent was taken from the family before the surgery and said he would file a police complaint against the doctors

Kannada TV actor Chethana Raj (21) died due to complications from a fat-removal plastic surgery, her father said, blaming it on medical negligence.

Chethana acted in serials like 'Geetha', 'Doresani', and 'Olavina Nildana', besides playing cameos in a few Kannada films.

Chethana went to Dr Shetty's Cosmetic Centre in northern Bengaluru's Rajajinagar around 8.30 am on May 16 for the surgery without informing her family, her father Varadaraju said. "She went with some friends. We didn't know about the surgery. She wasn't discharged even until 5 pm. At around 9 pm, I learnt about her death," he said.

According to Varadaraju, Chethana was taken to another hospital where she was declared brought dead. "She had breathing problems. Doctors said her lungs were filled with water, causing the death," he said and blamed medical negligence for the tragedy.

Varadaraju stressed that no consent was taken from the family for the surgery and said he would file a police complaint against the doctors.

Kaade Hospital, located in Manjunathanagar, where the actor was declared brought dead, issued a news statement, claiming that she had died before being brought in there.

According to the hospital, Chethana was brought in around 5.30 pm on May 16 by an anaesthetist named Dr Melvin.

"Dr Melvin barged into our hospital with a patient (who was found unresponsive later) disregarding all the protocols of the hospital and threatening our security. Before our doctors could intervene and check the patient, he pushed the patient into our ICU and demanded that our doctors treat the patient on the lines indicated by him as the patient had suffered a cardiac arrest during some procedure at their hospital, M/s Dr Shetty's Cosmetic Centre," said Dr Sandeep V, ICU Intensivist.

According to Dr Sandeep, no patient file or doctor's recommendatory note or any other document depicting her condition was submitted to them. The patient didn't have a pulse. Still, on the insistence of Dr Melvin and the team, CPR was performed for about 45 minutes, but the patient could not be revived as it appeared that she was brought dead.

Dr Sandeep claimed that their doctors were "forced" by Dr Melvin and his team to declare the patient dead only at 6.45 pm "for reasons best known to them".

Police have taken up a case and are carrying out further investigations.

Dr Sahebgowda Shetty, who runs the cosmetic centre, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

What may have gone wrong

Dr S Venkata Raghava, Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, Victoria Hospital, weighed in on what may have gone wrong during the procedure.

He said the actor appeared to have undergone liposuction, a type of fat-removal procedure during plastic surgery.

While liposuction is generally considered a safe procedure, there are four complications: a) acute pulmonary oedema (swelling of lungs); b) fat embolism syndrome; c) perforation and d) anaesthetic complications.

In this case, Dr Raghava said the most likely complication appears to be fat embolism syndrome, during which fat droplets from liposuction areas enter the veins and travel to the lungs, eventually causing the heart to stop functioning (cardiac arrest).

"Fat embolism syndrome following liposuction is a life-threatening complication, although its incidence is low. Currently, there is no specific therapy for fat embolism syndrome, so prevention, early detection and supportive therapy are critical," he explained.