TV Actress Died Due To Plastic Surgery, Doctors Call Its "Very Rare"

The victim's family alleges medical negligence over the 'fat-free' procedure.

After getting plastic surgery, fatality due to complications that people may suffer after undergoing plastic surgery is "very rare", but the first 24-hours post-operation is critical and patients need to be put under observation for that period, medical experts said today.

According to the police officials, a promising young TV actor died after undergoing plastic surgery at a facility in Bengaluru. The victim's family alleges medical negligence over the 'fat-free' procedure she went to at the cosmetic centre.

Chethana Raj (21), who is said to have had a promising career, had made a mark in daily soap operas such as 'Doresani' and 'Geetha.' Her father K Varadaraj said the hospital authorities told him his daughter died of a cardiac arrest.

Plastic, reconstructive surgery and beauty enhancement surgery experts also said more people are now choosing to go for such operations after the advent of social media, with "increased consciousness about their body image all the time".

Dr. Vivek Kumar, senior consultant, aesthetic and plastic surgery at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, "It will be difficult to tell what could have caused the death, without knowing the full details of the surgery and which body part was involved in it".

"But, death due to complications that people may suffer after undergoing plastic surgery for cosmetic enhancement is "very rare". As per a global study, the chance of fatality is about 20 per lakh," he told news agency PTI.

Dr Kumar working at the SGRH since 2005, said deaths can occur in such cases due to drug reaction after suffering allergy post administering of an antibiotic or strong reaction from anesthesia effect, pulmonary oedema leading to heart arrest, among other factors.

"We tell our patients that all surgeries are important, be it major or minor. And, though chances of death from complications that patients may suffer after undergoing plastic surgery are very rare, the first 24 hours are critical, and at Ganga Ram Hospital, we keep all our patients under 24-hour observation," he said.

Aesthetic surgery includes Botox, facelift, liposuction, fat injection, breast augmentation, breast reduction, tummy tuck, rhinoplasty (nose job), and inner thigh lift, among other procedures.

Asked people from which age group generally opt for such surgeries, he said, "Women opt for it more than men, and people in the age group of 20-30 generally go for it".

Actor Priyanka Chopra in her memoir 'Unfinished' released in February 2021 also discusses rumours about her much-publicised plastic surgery in 2001, which she said she had undergone to treat a polyp in her nasal cavity after having trouble breathing.

"While shaving off the polyp, the doctor also accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed. When it was time to remove the bandages and the condition of my nose was revealed, Mom and I were horrified. My original nose was gone," she wrote.