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Discount Breast Surgery Turns Deadly

Thi Hanh Lan Tran died from a heart attack while being prepared for an unlicensed cosmetic surgery. Illegal clinics are targeting Asian Canadian women with their low cost and dangerous procedures.

By Mark Blanchard

Canadian police have issued a warning about a bizarre world of secret underground cosmetic surgery clinics that target Asian Canadian women who want bigger breasts, fuller lips and enhanced eyes — all at discount prices.

They say the cut-rate procedures, often performed by untrained people posing as doctors, can kill. Case in point: a 36-year-old Toronto woman died March 19 after a botched breast augmentation.

Thi Hanh Lan Tran, a manicurist originally from Vietnam, had a heart attack after she was given a sedative. Unconscious, she was dropped off at a hospital emergency room by someone who claimed she suffered a seizure on a bus.

But doctors suspected otherwise. They found multiple pinpricks under Tran’s breasts — injection sites used for a local anesthetic to prepare for surgery. Tran is now thought to be the first person in Canada to die from unlicensed cosmetic surgery, but not the first lured by visions of beauty — and the prospect of saving almost half the cost of procedures at legitimate clinics.

“This untimely and unnecessary death must be taken as a strong indication of the reasons why people should not rely on these types of premises,” said Detective Sergeant Ralph Brookes of the Toronto Police Service.

“Clearly, this practice is unwise and unsafe.”

An arrest warrant has been issued against Minh Tam Thi Le, who is considered responsible for Tran’s death.

Police are now trying to track down the female “doctor” who ran the clinic Tran went to and say a Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Minh Tam Thi Le, accusing her of criminal negligence causing death.

Le entered Canada last fall on a student visa to study hairdressing, but disappeared after Tran died. Reports say she offered similar discount cosmetic procedures while working at a beauty parlor in Vietnam.

“We know that she has been operating for some time in the [Vietnamese] community,” Brookes said. “But she didn’t have the skill.”

Le advertised her services in local Vietnamese newspapers, working under the names of Dr. Crystal Lee and Dr. Minh Tam. She was not licensed, though, to practice medicine anywhere in Canada.

Investigators say Le charged Tran just $2,500 for three procedures, even though a licensed clinic in Canada would bill as much as $6,000 for breast enlargement surgery alone.

Tran was also scheduled to have her lips injected and her eyes enlarged.

Police don’t know if Le has fled Canada, but believe she may be operating in Southern California, even though she doesn’t have the appropriate papers to enter the United States.

“She doesn’t have status to travel in the U.S.,” said Detective Sergeant Brookes. “It’s our understanding from U.S. Immigration authorities that they would expel her in a heartbeat — and send her back to Canada. If that’s the case, we would certainly be waiting for her.”

Le’s partner has already been arrested on a charge of criminal negligence causing death. Police say 39-year old Tu Ngoc Nguyen, a former factory worker with no medical experience at all, owned the clinic and rented office space for it.

Tran’s family, meanwhile, has been devastated by the ordeal. Kiet Nguyen, a 43-year-old immigrant who speaks little English, last saw his wife alive when he dropped him off at work, not knowing she planned to go to the clinic.

Dr. Collin Hong, a Toronto area plastic surgeon, says he often sees Asian women who’ve gone to such unlicensed clinics and had foreign substances, such as non-sterile injected silicone or even window caulking, injected into their lips, eyes or breasts.

“[These are] blatant, total violations done by people with no medical license,” Hong said. “And that’s a big problem.”