Taipei police apprehended a plastic surgeon on suspicion of medical malpractice on Wednesday evening, hours after a man died under anesthesia following a penis enlargement procedure.
The deceased, who was about 50 years old, had surgery at Pretty World (安和美) clinic from 10am to 2pm before dying during bed rest of unknown causes at 7pm that day, a Taipei Police Department Zhongshan Precinct spokesperson said.
First responders confirmed that the patient was dead and contacted the police, they said.
Photo: Wang Ting-chuan, Taipei Times
Officers at the scene arrested Ting Pin-huang (丁斌煌), referred him to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on a manslaughter charge and requested a coroner’s inquest on the death.
A Taipei Department of Health spokesperson said that officials conducted seven audits of the clinic and fined it a total of NT$270,000 for multiple breaches, and did not rule out permanently shuttering the clinic, they said.
Inspectors are collecting potential evidence that might point to breaches of rules governing labeling, medical record-keeping, patient charges and management of pharmaceuticals, police said.
The death is the latest in a series of health emergencies related to cosmetic procedures that critics said highlighted the lack of regulations for the field in Taiwan.
Citing High Court Judge Liao Chien-yu (廖建瑜), The Reporter in January said that cosmetic procedure-related incidents had resulted in more criminal convictions than any other type of medicine between 2016 and 2019.
Many mishaps resulting in death or serious debilitation have occurred in the field over the past few years, including botched anesthesia, misuse of medical drugs, unproven procedures and false advertisements.
Last year, a 49-year-old Taipei woman died under sedation while undergoing a cosmetic procedure, and another clinic was found to have forged medical consent forms of a patient who had necrosis after a fat-dissolving injection.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare last month issued a public warning against exosome therapy, which has not been approved for medical use, but is reportedly being offered by many clinics.
Doctors who are not specifically trained in cosmetic surgery are allowed to practice in Taiwan, as regulators have not established certification standards for the field, Taiwan Society for Dermatological and Aesthetic Surgery chairman Tsai Ren-yu (蔡仁雨) said.
Taiwan does not require psychological tests to ensure a person’s mental competency to undergo certain cosmetic procedures, such as breast enlargement, Chinese Society for Cosmetic Surgery and Anti-Aging Medicine executive director Sung Feng-i (宋奉宜) said.
The regulatory oversight significantly contributes to Taiwan’s chaotic cosmetic surgery scene, where people could get unnecessary procedures due to the pressures of fierce market competition, he said.
The government in 2017 attempted to regulate cosmetic surgery, but the effort failed, as it lacked a clear legal mandate and became the subject of controversy, Ministry of Health and Welfare Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Liu Yueh-ping (劉越萍) said.
The certification for cosmetic surgeons is inadequate and many doctors are practicing without a certificate, she said.
Likou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s urology department deputy head Chen Yu (陳煜) said that death from penile girth or length enhancement surgery is an “unheard of outcome.”
“I do not know the details of this incident, but inherent risks to surgical anesthesia exist, and they can be compounded if the patient suffers from pre-existing cardiovascular conditions that went undiscovered,” he said.
Complications from such procedures are uncommon and are rarely more serious than a minor infection, Chen said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Kai-heng
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