Yahoo News Celebrity cosmetic surgeon Dr Bumbum vanishes after patient dies in Brazil
A Brazilian plastic surgeon known as "Dr Bumbum" is on the run after a patient died hours after he performed a bottom-enhancement procedure on her at an apartment in Rio de Janeiro.
Dr Denis Furtado, 45, had risen to the status of social media celebrity in recent years, with 650,000 followers on Instagram where he routinely posted before-and-after photos of bottom enhancement procedures he had performed.
But police are now seeking information on Dr Furtado’s whereabouts after Lilian Quezia Calixto, a patient who travelled more than 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) from Cuiaba for the appointment, died on Sunday July 15.
The 45-year-old surgeon is wanted on charges of qualified homicide, after performing a cosmetic procedure on Calixto in an apartment in the upmarket Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood in Rio on Saturday, according to Brazilian media.
Investigators believe that Dr Furtado used excessive levels of a controversial acrylic filler, permitted by the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance but advised for use in small amounts.
Brazilian media reports that Dr Furtado took Calixto to the Hospital Barra D'Or when she began to experience an elevated heartbeat and hypertensions following the procedure.
She died in hospital after suffering four heart attacks. Authorities are offering a reward of 1,000 Brazilian reais (£200) for information on Dr Furtado’s location.
Dr Furtado was not a specialised plastic surgeon, according to Brazilian Plastic Surgery Society (SBPC) president Dr Niveo Steffen.
“Plastic surgery is much esteemed in Brazil, but social media provides a lot of opportunities for unethical people to sell unachievable dreams,” he told The Telegraph by phone.
Dr Furtado’s mother, Maria de Fátima Barros, has also fled. Also formerly a doctor, Fátima’s medical license had been revoked in 2015.
She reportedly worked with Dr Furtado in an administrative capacity.
Dr Furtado’s girlfriend and reported assistant Renata Fernandes, also charged with qualified homicide, was arrested on Sunday and later transferred to Benfica prison.
The family maid, Rosilane Pereira da Silva, has also been indicted in the investigation. Brazil has the second highest number of plastic surgeries in the world, second to the United States.
“Brazilian women are among those who invest most time, money, worry in sculpting their own bodies,” said Mirian Goldenberg, an anthropologist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
“This case shows a reality that happens daily in Brazil, which is people having these procedures without the necessary information. People want magic solutions that don’t exist,” she said.
