Sep 29, 2009 6:46 pm US/Eastern
Laser Lipo Complication Leaves Woman Brain Dead
WESTON, Fla. (CBS) ―
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Rohie Kah Rokotan, seen in this undated file photo, went in for a non-invasive procedure using a laser to melt away fat and, due to complications, has been left brain dead.
CBS
A Broward County woman went in for a laser liposuction-type procedure but is now clinging to life after something went horribly wrong. Her family faces the tough choice of taking her off life support.
The family of 37-year-old Rohie Kah Rokotan says she went in for the common outpatient surgery with a Weston doctor, when she started having seizures, reports CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami.
"My little sister is closest to my mom," said her brother before breaking into tears.
Her family says the mother of three was in perfect health, until she decided to have the non-invasive medical procedure at the Weston Med Spa last Friday.
"We know something went horribly wrong," said the family's attorney Michael Freedland. "You don't go in for a simple procedure that they advertise on their website and come out brain dead."
"It's a very bad situation," said Oking Habib, the victim's uncle. "We want the world to know Rohie is a very sweet lady. We hate to lose her and for those kids to be without their mother."
The procedure uses a laser to melt away fat underneath the skin.
"It's a procedure so safe, that the government allows us to do it in an office setting under local anesthetic, without the regulatory equipment that an anesthesiologist would require," said Dr. Jason Shapiro, who specializes in aesthetics. He is not the doctor that performed Kah Rokotan's procedure.
Kah Rokotan needed only blood work to be cleared for the treatment, but family members were told she had a seizure during treatment.
No one at the Med Spa wanted to comment to WFOR.
Attorneys say it is possible she was given too much lidocaine, a local anesthetic. Often the side effect of too much lidocaine is seizures.
What went wrong and how it went wrong, the family is still trying to find out. However, learning what went wrong may do little to ease this family's pain as they contemplate saying their final goodbyes to Rohie Kay Rokotan.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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