Norfolk woman’s ‘Brazilian butt lift’ death prompts UK-Turkey meeting
31 year old Melissa Kerr travelled to a private hospital in Istanbul for the procedure
UK Government officials are to meet their counterparts in Turkey after a young woman from Norfolk died following a “Brazilian butt lift” at a private hospital there.
Melissa Kerr, 31, was admitted to the Medicana Kadikoy Hospital in Istanbul in 2019 and died after the procedure to collect fat and inject it into her buttocks.
Norfolk’s senior coroner Jacqueline Lake said that Ms Kerr, of Denton, Norfolk, was only given “limited information regarding the risks and mortality rate” associated with the operation.
The coroner wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care with her concerns following an inquest heard in September this year.
She wrote: “I am concerned that patients travelling to Turkey for this procedure are not being made aware of the risks and the high mortality rate associated with this surgery.”
Ms Lake also raised concerns that there were “no or limited controls with regard to such surgery taking place”.
Her concerns were addressed to then-health secretary Steve Barclay, and a response has since been received from Maria Caulfield, minister for mental health and women’s health strategy.
In her response this month, Ms Caulfield said: “My officials will… be visiting Turkey shortly to meet with their counterparts.
“The intention is to discuss the regulatory framework, and the protections that are in place for UK nationals, and to identify concrete areas where the UK and Turkish authorities should work together to reduce the risks to patients in the future.”
She continued: “It is particularly important that those considering having the ‘Brazilian Butt Lift’ (BBL) procedure are made fully aware of the risks and have time to reflect fully on their decision ahead of surgery.
“As you note in the report, the risks associated with this procedure are high.
“The risk of death for BBL surgery is at least 10 times higher than many other cosmetic procedures, and it has the highest death rate of all cosmetic procedures.
“As you note, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) has advised its members not to carry out Brazilian butt lift surgery until more is known about safer techniques for the procedure.
“The Government is considering how we can most effectively communicate with those considering medical treatment abroad, to ensure people are better informed about the risks ahead of surgery and understand the need to ensure appropriate aftercare, including considering when it may be safe to travel home.”
Ms Caulfield said she hoped her response was “helpful in setting out how seriously the UK Government is taking the issues raised in your report”.
Ms Kerr died on the day of the butt lift – which sees fat harvested from elsewhere on the body and injected into the buttocks – on November 19 2019.
She died after injected fat entered a vein before moving and blocking her pulmonary artery, with her cause of death recorded as pulmonary thromboembolism and fat embolism, with a secondary cause stated as elective cosmetic surgery.