Safe Plastic Surgery in Colombia.  Colombia Plastic Surgery Prices 

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Colombia is the fourth leading destination for foreigners seeking cosmetic surgeries. U.S. citizens mostly with latin families, highly motivated by the prices fly to Colombia through the year. Colombia has gained a reputation for high quality plastic surgery and excellent Plastic Surgeons. Prices are lower than most south American countries as Brazil, Chile and Argentina. A Rhinoplasty costs $5,000 to $7,000 in Miami with a top surgeon but $2,500 to $ 4000 in Colombia. A liposuction that costs $5000 to $8,000 in Miami costs $2000 to $3000 in Colombia.

More than 90,500 foreigners travel to cities such as Bogotá, Cali and Medellín accounting for 15 percent of the total number of surgeries per year, according to the International Society of Plastic Surgery (ISAPS).

But what many patients don’t know is that Colombia lacks laws and regulations on who may perform a plastic surgery.

That means surgery can end up in the hands of a general physician, an untrained physician of another specialty such as Otorhinolaryngologists, fake facial surgeons, gynecologists or even a dentist.

Recent scandal of surgeons in Colombia who were performing cosmetic procedures for years, with fake titles and had never studied the specialty.

However, this problem is not only in Colombia but also in The United States where fake plastic surgeons perform surgeries as has been showed by ASAPS American Society of Plastic Surgery. Laws are needed to avoid more victims in most countries.

But behind the veil of a perfect body lie the risks of disfigured faces, lifelong scars, damaged organs and even death. Those are the high costs paid by dozens of patients, including foreigners who traveled to Colombia to undergo beauty procedures with scalpels that sometimes have a double edge.

 Fatalities have been in patients who had the famous “combos” — a combination of several surgeries in one procedure that has widely been proved to be risky.

Colombia does not have any laws that forbid doctors that don’t have a Real Plastic surgeon title.

That means that a general doctor, unlicensed personnel (which have included hair stylists and masseuses) and under risky conditions, a dentist or even a nurse can perform procedures, specially liposuction, that is one of the most common and simple procedure but turns to be a very high-risk procedure in untrained hands.

However due to the Cosmetic BOOM in all the world, Doctors from other specialties such as   gynecologist, ophthalmologist or Dermatologists started performing Liposuctions in Colombia.

 

 

Be aware of Plastic SURGEONS WITH FAKE DIPLOMAS

The need to regulate Plastic surgery has been known for many years, but it was highlighted by a scandal in 2016 that involved several Fake Plastic Surgeons.

The most published scandal started when Dr. Francisco Sales Puccini was accused of malpractice with a Fake diploma in cosmetic surgery from an “express” 3 months course in Brazil.

People who made research on this Fake Plastic Surgeon in Google before the scandal found that he had a diploma as a Plastic surgeon.
 But many patients never Knew that the procedure had been performed by an obstetrician not a by Plastic surgeon.

 As Colombian authorities made the investigation on this Fake Doctors, they found that the Veiga de Almeida University in Brazil did not even have a medical school. Those express courses are not even valid for a Plastic Surgeon title in Brazil.

Noticias Uno and Journalist Beltran decided to investigate and uncovered a national scandal.  They never imagined that an important number of Colombian doctors had enrolled in universities in Brazil, Peru and Argentina for short courses on cosmetic surgery, many of them online. Worse than that they found they paid bribes to Colombian Education Ministry officials to register them legally in Colombia.

The diplomas certified them as specialists in plastic, esthetic and reconstructive surgeries, a specialty that must be studied in person and can take up to six years after having a Title as MD.

Two years after the scandal a judge has sentenced former Education Ministry official to seven years in prison for validating 44 foreign “express” diplomas. This Fake Plastic Surgeons payed around $10,000 per validation.

Prosecutors also accused five other doctors of using false documents and procedural fraud because they submitted and manipulated documents to register their Plastic Surgery diplomas. A judge ordered all fake Plastic Surgeons to stop performing cosmetic surgeries. But Google has continued showing many of this site.

In August 2018 Google banned all plastic surgery web sites to filter Fake Plastic Surgeons. But unfortunately, all Real Plastic Surgeon with high quality results were banned too.

Good clinics OR “GARAGE CLINICS”

Colombia been one of the countries that reports the highest number of Plastic surgeries.  4th in the world in the year 2018. More than half a million procedures were reported in 2018 alone, and the most popular were tummy tucks, breast augmentation and liposuction, according to ISAPS

But the real number may be much higher because of clandestine procedures performed in “garage clinics” performed by Fake Plastic surgeons.  Fake Plastic Surgeons are not authorized in Good Clinics to perform surgery. So, they find the Garage Clinics as the best place to make their surgeries.

A butt augmentation that costs as little as $100 to $300, with liquid silicone may cause death few hours after, producing a heart attack due to block of coronary arteries with Silicone. Some Fake doctors also use substances such as cooking oil, industrial silicone, glue and shark cartilage. All can cause real severe deformations and even death.

 Recommendations:

Confirm that the surgeon is a specialist. The Colombia

▪ Be aware that all surgeries carry risks, and Plastic surgeries are no exception.

▪ Avoid “combos.”  The number of procedures performed in one surgery increases the risks.

 ▪ Pick a surgeon who is accredited  by the Colombian Society of Aesthetic  and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery. The SCCP,  before giving membership to any Doctor, makes all the research for you . In that way you save time and prevent risks if you find a Doctor that is a member.

▪ Do not trust recommendations from friends, relatives or famous people in advertisements or in social media.

▪ Ask the surgeon if you are healthy enough to undergo that specific surgery, and whether you need additional physical, medical or psychological exams.

▪ Follow only the surgeon’s recommendations to ensure a proper recovery. If complications develop, contact your Plastic surgeon directly.

▪ Resolve any doubts you may have with your Plastic surgeon and his medical team. Don’t trust the experience of someone else like friends or family. Real Plastic surgeons have all the experience to resolve all complications.

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Due to recent money exchange   of COP Colombian Pesos, vs Dolar , 1 USD 3000 pesos surgeries are cheper for you .

All  procedures  cost 1/3 as compared to USA