CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CN) - A doctor killed a woman in a botched butt lift by injecting her own fat into a vein instead of into her buttocks, which so upset her son that he killed himself, her widower and remaining child claim in court.
Daniel Saunders claims Dr. Oscar Aguirre, who is "not a plastic surgeon," killed his wife Stephanie on June 30-July 1 last year while giving her a "Brazilian Butt Lift."
He sued Aguirre on his own behalf and for his remaining child, a 9-year-old daughter. The 14-year-old son he had with Stephanie killed himself in June this year.
Dr. Aguirre describes himself on his website as "the founder of Aguirre Specialty Care - Pelvic Surgery & Intimate Aesthetics. He is also the founder of the 'Center for Female Pelvic Medicine & Cosmetic Surgery,'" according to the Oct. 6 lawsuit in Douglas County Court.
Liposuction, as used in the butt lift, involves extracting fat from various areas of the body and injecting it into the buttocks. More than 10,000 such surgeries are believed to be performed each year in the United States.
Saunders claims that Aguirre injected his wife's abdominal fat into a vein, with a "catastrophic result." The resulting fat embolism caused her death by acute respiratory failure at 5 a.m. the next morning, he says. She was 41 years old.
Their teenage son, D.S., "was so devastated and heart-broken by his mother's death that he never regained his emotional equilibrium and, tragically, took his own life on June 4, 2015," the father says.
In addition to being a loving mother, Stephanie was a well-paid executive, earning more than $100,000 a year. Daniel Saunders, now a single father, says he has been left with "enormous financial grief and distress," as he raises his young daughter.
Aguirre, of Cherry Hills Village, whose office is in Englewood, was said to be out of town Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Saunders seeks damages for wrongful death, pain and suffering, negligence and other charges. He is represented by John Astuno Jr., of Colorado Springs.
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