Park Avenue Doctor Charged with Manslaughter for Deadly Liposuction Procedure

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Mar 29, 2013 12:53 PM EDT

Park avenue doctor, Oleg Davie has turned himself in for carelessly performing a liposuction on an unhealthy patient, ultimately killing her. Davie, 51, admitted to ignoring his patient, Isel Pineda's medical history, which indicated that she had heart surgery back in 2004. Davie had falsified the 51-year-old Pineda's documents and deleted the part where she told him of her heart condition after she died from the procedure. Since turning himself in, David has been incriminated on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

"It is shameful that a medical professional would disregard his patient's safety, putting her in serious danger," Charles Hynes, the Brooklyn District Attorney said.

When Pineda, who was five feet and nine inches, weighing 130 pounds, suffered from a cardiac arrest on Davie's table, he purposely removed the information regarding her heart complications on her medical form. Davie's defense stated that he overreacted during the time of the incident and changed the documents in the heat of the moment due to fear. His lawyer stated that the doctor did not intend to hurt or kill Pineda, and that it was her heart that failed during the procedure and not the doctor's surgery.

Despite Davie's attempt to cover up his mistakes, Pineda's close friend discovered the discrepancies between Pineda's original medical forms and the altered forms in Davie's office. After this discovery, Davie could not avoid the inevitable and turned himself in, admitting his mistake. Davie's previous history with the law is not a good one either. In 2011, he was fined $100,000 for neglecting certain medical safety protocols. Davie is now awaiting trial after paying the $175,000 bail. If he gets convicted from these charges, he can end up being imprisoned for up to 34 years.

Cosmetic procedures to alter weight or facial appearances have gotten more popular over the decades. Some people are so entranced by these procedures that they forget the possible complications and side effects arising from them, while others have gone under the knife several times to the point where they become unrecognizable by friends and family. Not only do patients turn a blind eye to dangerous procedures, some doctors might not have their priorities in line. This unfortunate tragedy reminds people and medical professionals to approach plastic surgery with more care and concern. People should be fully aware of possible risk factors before the procedure and doctors must take risk factors seriously.

The liposuction procedure might have cost $2,500, but Pineda unfortunately paid more with her life. 

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