Dubai A plastic surgeon and an anaesthetist have been accused of negligence after a housewife suffered cardiac arrest and died following liposuction surgery.

The 39-year-old Emirati housewife and mother to six children underwent liposuction during which 23 kilograms of abdominal wall and fat were removed.

However, she died the next day, according to prosecution records.

Prosecutors charged the Brazilian plastic surgeon, L.O., and the Indian anaesthetist, N.D., with medical negligence, malpractice and professional misconduct that led to the victim's death.

N.D. pleaded not guilty when he appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanour Court yesterday and strongly denied charges of negligence or liability resulting in the woman's death.

L.O., however, was absent when Presiding Judge Ebrahim Khalil Abu Shamma read out the charges against him in Courtroom Nine.

"The court has decided to refer the case to the chief judge of Dubai Primary Courts to be referred to another panel," said Presiding Judge Abu Shamma.

According to the charges, L.O. conducted the surgery while N.D. administered the anaesthetic.

Police permission

Prosecution records said the management of the hospital where the surgery took place asked the victim's brother to obtain police permission to take his sister's body for funeral proceedings.

"Police refused to allow me to collect sister's body before an autopsy was carried out… we took her body after two days," the brother told prosecutors.

Police reports said the hospital had confirmed that cardiac arrest was behind the housewife's death. N.D. told prosecutors that he warned both L.O. and the housewife about the life-threatening risks of the surgery, especially given the fact that she was obese. He said his advice was not heeded.

When prosecutors questioned him, L.O. denied any medical negligence or malpractice on his side.

A medical report said the victim was advised to go for a bariatric surgery but notes that she was reluctant and wanted only the fat-reduction surgery in spite of the risks involved. The report added that the patient had likely succumbed to a massive embolism.