A trip to Tijuana to save money on cosmetic surgery ends in trauma, tragedy for 3 women (2024)

TIJUANA—

On a day in late January — at the height of what some have dubbed the “Zoom boom” in plastic surgery — three women from California went to get cosmetic work done in Tijuana. None of them left unharmed.

One of the women died at the clinic, another is on dialysis for kidney failure and yet another wound up hospitalized for two weeks.

All three procedures have drawn attention to the clinic where they took place, Art Siluette Aesthetic Surgery, and the man listed as the clinic’s director on its website whose office, the women say, performed the procedures, Dr. Jesús Manuel Báez López.

Americans often go to Tijuana for medical services in search of low-cost options. But doctors caution that bargain shopping for cosmetic surgeries can be risky. In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning after 11 Americans who had weight-loss surgeries in the border city returned home with antibiotic-resistant infections.

Keuana Weaver, the Long Beach woman who died in Tijuana this January, had confided in family members that she was thinking about having some “work done,” but told her mom she was going to Florida for a tummy tuck.

Weaver’s mother said she first heard Keuana was in Tijuana when a family member called to tell her that her 38-year-old daughter had died on the operating table at a cosmetic surgery clinic south of the border.

Renee Weaver, the mother of the woman who died, is seen here in white at her daughter’s funeral, held March 27 at the Pomona Cemetery on Franklin Avenue in Pomona, California. Her daughter, Keuana Weaver, died Jan. 29 at a clinic in Tijuana where she went to get plastic surgery.

(Courtesy of Kinsee Morlan)

“I’m heartbroken. I want to know what happened,” said Renee Weaver, 58.

Keuana Weaver’s family said she died Jan. 29 during a procedure at a plastic surgery clinic located in Tijuana’s Las Torres towers in the Colonia Aviación — a commercial district along a major corridor in the border city. She was the mother of a 13-year-old and a 1-year-old.

Báez López, the doctor, did not respond to multiple requests from the Union-Tribune for comment, made in person and by email and phone. Receptionists at his clinic told a reporter on April 13 that Báez López was unavailable to answer any questions because he was in the middle of another surgery.

A letter provided by Renee Weaver shows the clinic offered to refund the $6,700 cost of Keuana Weaver’s surgery.

Baja California’s Secretary of Health did not respond to requests for comment. The Medical Board of Baja California referred questions to the Asociación Mexicana de Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reconstructiva, A.C., a professional organization of plastic surgeons, which said Báez was not a member.

According to a 2015 news report, inspectors with Mexico’s Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) in April 2015 shut down a different cosmetic surgery clinic run by Báez López for “failing to meet the minimum requirements to operate legally.”

The ‘Zoom boom’

Demand for cosmetic treatment has shot up since last March. Plastic surgeons worldwide report an unprecedented number of requests for procedures they believe were brought on by workers spending more time staring at their faces on Zoom.

Tijuana has shared in that boom, part of a larger effort by state officials to build up its “medical tourism” industry. Before the pandemic, so many Americans regularly crossed into Baja California to undergo weight-loss surgery, visit the dentist or have blood work done at a fraction of the U.S. cost that the state initiated a special medical “Fast Lane” program at the border in 2011. U.S. patients of registered Mexican doctors were allowed to pass through the San Ysidro border in a special lane, avoiding the notoriously long waits.

Baja California’s Secretary of Sustainable Economy and Tourism (SEST) estimates the industry has tripled in recent years, from 800,000 medical tourists documented in 2014 to 2.4 million in 2018, generating annual revenues of more than $1.7 billion. That includes the spill-over effect of spending on luxury hotels and restaurants, where patients stay and eat before and after their procedures.

In Tijuana, the most visited location in Baja California for medical tourism, business has not been as heavily impacted by the pandemic as other locations across the globe. That’s possibly because of its geographical location and because of the quality of care and services on specialties such as bariatric surgery, according to Dr. Juan Antonio López Corbalá, a specialist in that field.

Weaver’s death and the injuries described by the other two patients raise questions, though, about what oversight exists when things go wrong.

Injured patients or their family members don’t have much recourse in Mexico, according to Dr. Gilberto Montfort, a longtime plastic surgeon in Baja California and member of the Asociación Mexicana de Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reconstructiva, A.C., the professional surgeon’s association.

“If a relative wants to know more about what went wrong, then they have to file a criminal complaint against the doctor,” said Montfort. He added medical malpractice lawsuits are rare — as are investigations into doctors who practice without the proper credentials.

“There are organizations that are supposed to (provide oversight) but they do not really do it. They don’t really do their jobs,” said Montfort.

Renee Weaver, Keuana’s mother, said she was considering getting in touch with an attorney but wasn’t sure how the process would work in Tijuana. She said no one from Baja California has contacted her to collect any information about her daughter’s death.

Asked to comment on Weaver’s death, Baja California authorities said they would look into it.

“We’re working very hard to make sure that doctors who are practicing without the proper credentials are immediately shut down and are investigated by the Attorney General,” said Atzimba Villegas, the state director of medical tourism. “It’s essential for the entire industry that patients feel safe and are well cared for and get the results they are looking for.”

Pandemic downtime

Kanisha Davis said she and her friend Weaver had downtime because of the pandemic and scheduled surgery on the same day with Báez López for liposuction and tummy tucks.

Davis, a nurse, said she was concerned that she was not hooked up to any monitors during her surgery. She said was released immediately afterwards without having any blood testing, and was taken to a hotel room where she was supposed to recover.

“They didn’t check my hemo. They just kept sedating me and sedating me,” said Davis, referring to a test that is typically done after surgery to indicate if a patient has a blood disorder or problem carrying oxygen to the body. “And me being a nurse, I knew something was off.”

After she learned of Weaver’s death, Davis’ husband took her home to California. Davis said she began bleeding internally and projectile vomiting, eventually requiring an ambulance ride to the ER and a two-week hospitalization at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

The hospital told her she was hemorrhaging inside and had a hematoma, Davis said. “If I hadn’t gone into the hospital when I did, I would have died,” she said. “I was slowly bleeding to death. I was weak.”

Davis said she went into acute renal failure. She said whatever money she may have saved having the surgery in Mexico was offset by her hospital stay and care for her complications. Davis said she considered hiring an attorney but finding one that specialized in law on both sides of the border was difficult and she wasn’t sure about civil law in Mexico.

“Did we know we were taking a risk being in Mexico? Yes. But did we ever, at any time, think that risk would be death? No,” Davis said.

Davis and Weaver’s mother both provided medical paperwork from Art Siluette Aesthetic Surgery that had Báez López’s name on it. While Davis was in the hospital she texted the clinic asking for her medical records. The clinic sent her a letter, signed by Báez López, that stated she “had surgery with us on Jan. 29” and “there were no findings or complications.”

The letter adds: “The patient leaves the operating room in good condition, stable and is received on the floor for monitoring and administration of medications.” Davis also received a list of prescriptions from the clinic for post-surgical care.

Rushed to ER

Renee Weaver provided a Secretary of Health document that was necessary to transfer her daughter’s body from Baja California to California. It states Weaver’s cause of death as “secondary hypoxic encephalopathy,” which refers to damage to the central nervous system by inadequate oxygen and blood supply.

In the document, the date listed as the date of her death is Jan. 29, which is the date her family said she had her surgery.

The document was signed by David Ignacio Gutiérrez Inzunza, the director of COEPRIS, the Comisión Estatal Contra Riesgos Sanitarios, a health department that typically would be responsible for investigating medical malpractice or medical offices operating without proper licensing.

Gutiérrez Inzunza did not respond to a request for comment. The Medical Examiner’s office did not release an autopsy report for Weaver, even though it would be a public record. A spokesman for the Attorney General did not respond to a request for comment.

Esmeralda Iniguez, who said she did not previously know the other two patients, said she was rushed across the border to an emergency room in Chula Vista just days after Weaver’s death. She said she was nearly dying from septic shock.

Iniguez, who had undergone surgery the same day as Weaver and Davis, said she has been in and out of the hospital with kidney failure since February.

Iniguez said the aftermath of her procedure was brutal, and months later, she continues to suffer health consequences.

“He tightened my abdominal muscles too much, squishing all my organs together and cutting off blood supply to my kidneys, causing something called Abdominal Compartment Syndrome,” said Iniguez.

“I was so septic by the time I reached the ER in Chula Vista on February 3rd, I was literally hours from death. My kidneys were shutting down,” she added. Iniguez was again hospitalized in April after her wounds became re-infected. She said she’s been too busy fighting for her life to consider what legal options she may have or find an attorney.

The women have joined a Facebook group called “Botched by Baez,” that now has more than 600 members.

State law in Baja California since 2014 has stipulated that only certified plastic surgeons can perform liposuction and a range of other cosmetic procedures such as tummy tucks and mommy makeovers.

Báez López does not list qualifications as a plastic surgeon on his website, nor does he list among his credentials having any specialty training as a surgeon that is legally necessary to practice plastic surgery.

The website states that he obtained a master’s degree in “aesthetic surgery” in 2011 from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores en Medicina, Jalapa, Veracruz. The web page states his academic training includes a medical degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California.

Mexico’s National Register of Professions confirms Báez López obtained a bachelor’s degree as a general physician in 2007 from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California in 2007, and a two-year master’s degree in aesthetic surgery from the Institute of Higher Studies in Medicine in 2012.

When asked what the difference is between aesthetic surgery and plastic surgery, Montfort, the surgeon, said aesthetic surgery is “not really even surgery.”

“It’s like Botox. They advertise it as aesthetic surgery. But it’s not actually surgery,” he said.

Báez López also is not listed as a plastic surgeon with the Asociación Mexicana de Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reconstructiva, A.C. Other plastic surgeons who are listed with the association say that if someone is not included in the directory, it may indicate they don’t have training as a plastic surgeon. It’s a voluntary organization, but it requires that members are properly certified.

Birthday, then a funeral

Like any surgery, liposuction — which involves suctioning off fat deposits from different parts of the body — carries risks, and complications can in rare cases result in death. Statistics on overall mortality in plastic surgery procedures are difficult to obtain on both sides of the border. A 2013 study found 94 deaths among 3.9 million plastic-surgery patients in the U.S. between 2001 and 2012.

“To practice liposuction, you have to be a plastic surgeon,” said Montfort. “We have this problem in Mexico and you guys have it too in the United States.”

Montfort said certification for practicing plastic surgery requires rigorous testing after six years of specialty school and obtaining a diploma in the specialty.

“Many years ago, I was very disappointed because it is not fair that you go to school for so many years and other doctors — right after they get out of the university with no experience — they go and start putting everybody in danger,” said Montfort. “It is wrong.”

He said patients are part of the problem; some don’t want to pay for the full cost of a plastic surgeon, so they knowingly go to someone with fewer qualifications. The fact that there are so many cosmetologists who can continue working in the field shows there is a market for them. Montfort recommended that patients confirm with the Asociación Mexicana de Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reconstructiva, A.C. that their doctor is a member before surgery.

Keuana Weaver’s family held a birthday party for her on March 6. On March 27, they held her funeral.

“Keuana was a very independent woman; a good, loving, smart and very intelligent Black woman,” Renee Weaver said. “That doctor took a lot from me and my family and I most definitely have to have her story out there.

“I’m mostly sad this happened to my daughter because she was already so beautiful to me, inside and out, she just couldn’t see it.”