Man dies after operation to lose weight

15 January 2004

ALICANTE – A 27-year-old man died in a private hospital after an operation to lose weight, doctors said Thursday.

Doctor Juan Carlos Padilla said the man, who weighed 130kg, caught an infection after the operation at the hospital near Alicante.

Padilla, who is the medical director of the hospital, said the man, who was not named, died after “a chain of unhappy and sad events”.

But the man’s family is considering suing the hospital and are claiming medical negligence. The hospital have denied any wrong-doing.

The operation took place on 3 January when the man underwent surgery to reduce obesity.

The operation involved putting a silicone ring in the man’s stomach to reduce its size.

According to Padilla, the man was released from hospital on 6 January but he developed an abdominal infection and he had to return to hospital on 9 January to have antibiotic treatment.

However, Padilla said the treatment was not successful and the infection persisted.

The man underwent a second operation which lasted five hours.

During the operation, doctors found a fresh infection in the stomach and the man had to have urgent treatment in the emergency department.

Padilla explained that afterwards the man suffered “septic shock”, all his vital organs failed and he died 16 hours later.

The doctor said this condition can happen after any operation, though it is a rare and infrequent complication which only happens to one percent of patients.

Padilla said that the hospital had acted correctly and insisted that all measures had been been taken to save the man’s life.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news