Prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into a doctor, Chiu Chun-yen (邱浚彥), who is also the owner of Fabulous Clinic, on charges of professional negligence causing death, after a patient died at the Taipei branch of his practice on Saturday following a surgery that he performed, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Chiu Po-hao (邱柏豪), 25, underwent an operation at the clinic to augment his chin and nose, after which he died of unknown causes while in recovery, the office said.
Clinic staff called emergency services after Chiu Po-hao stopped breathing and his heart stopped, the office said, adding that he was taken to Taipei Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, where efforts to resuscitate him failed.
Chiu Chun-yen was on Sunday questioned by prosecutors and was released on bail of NT$80,000.
The office said that an autopsy was scheduled for yesterday, adding that an allergic reaction to, or rejection of, medication are believed to be possible causes of Chiu Po-hao’s death.
Chiu Po-hao’s girlfriend, surnamed Chang (張), said Chiu Po-hao decided to have his chin sculpted because he wanted to pursue a career in modeling and that he asked for nasal surgery to correct a septal deviation that impeded his breathing.
The clinic convinced Chiu Po-hao to have the procedures by telling him that it would perform them for a NT$5,000 deposit and in exchange for the rights to use his image in promotional materials, Chang said, adding that Chiu Po-hao had worked as a model in the past.
Chang said she accompanied Chiu Po-hao to the clinic on the morning of the operation, adding that he was put under general anesthesia at about 10:30am, followed by surgical procedures that lasted until 5:30pm.
Chiu Po-hao was transferred to a recovery room at about 5:45pm, Chang said, adding that she went to sit beside him at about 6pm.
At about 7:20pm, a nurse discovered that Chiu Po-hao’s blood pressure was falling and his breathing and heartbeat stopped soon after, Chang said, adding that he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:30pm, despite paramedics’ and hospital staff’s efforts to save him.
Chiu Chun-yen, who operated on Chiu Po-hao, said he was not aware of any issues during the operation, which involved placing cartilage from the patient’s rib on his nose and attaching artificial bone to his chin, and that no issues were evident during the patient’s post-operative care.
He said that the operation involved routine procedures, which he had performed hundreds of times without incident, and that he did not know why the patient died.
Chiu Po-hao’s relatives yesterday told a news conference that he had no history of illness, demanding that the authorities discover the cause of his death.
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