Fiancé of Dallas woman who died after plastic surgery in Mexico seeks "murder" charge
DALLAS — The fiancé of a Dallas real estate agent who died after plastic surgery in Mexico is seeking a "murder" charge for the doctors, CBS Dallas/Fort Worth reports. Laura Avila was a healthy woman focused on her career and busy with wedding planning in October before her family said doctors in Mexico injected anesthesia in the wrong place, causing a heart attack that resulted in brain swelling.
Avila died almost a month after heading to Mexico for plastic surgery. Enrique Cruz, Avila's fiancé, was by her side when she died in El Paso Saturday morning after being moved to a facility for comfort care.
"I'm kind of numb right now with everything that is going on and trying to be strong for the family," said Cruz.
The procedures Avila received included a nose job and breast implant replacement. Her sister Angie Avila had told CBS News that doctors at the Mexican hospital where her sister was transferred told them the Rino Center in Ciudad Juarez put the anesthesia in the wrong place in Laura's spine, her brain swelled, her kidneys failed and she went into cardiac arrest.
Cruz said the nose job and breast implant replacement Avila scheduled never happened.
"We've already hired some attorneys — that's what helped close the place down already," said Cruz. "We're after the doctors for negligence and now murder."
Cruz is planning a celebration for his fiancé's life in Tulum, Mexico, where their wedding was supposed to take place.
"That's where I want to spread her ashes in the ocean of Tulum where we first fell in love," Cruz said. "She loved to sing, she loved to dance."
No formal charges have been filed.
A 2017 study estimated nearly 1.5 million Americans were expected to travel outside the U.S. for medical care. In Mexico, procedures can cost anywhere between 40 and 65 percent less than in the U.S. Laura Avila's family estimates her procedures were somewhere around $8,500.