Woman in Singapore dies 5 days after getting aesthetic treatment

[UPDATE Oct 13, 2022] A doctor, Chan Bingyi, was charged in court on Oct 11 for allegedly administering ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) which led to Lau Li Ting's cardiac arrest and death.

Dr David Loh, president of the Society of Aesthetic Medicine (Singapore), said in a statement that Botox does not contain EDTA, reported The Straits Times.

"This unfortunate event had nothing to do with Botox. Chelation therapy, where EDTA is administered intravenously, is not a field within aesthetic medicine," he added.

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She paid the ultimate price for beauty.

A 32-year-old real estate agent died on March 13, days after getting botox injections at an aesthetic clinic on the fringe of the business district.

The woman, Lau Li Ting, suffered seizures and went into cardiac arrest shortly after receiving the cosmetic treatment, Lianhe Wanbao reported.

Her doctor tried to resuscitate her while calling for an ambulance. But by the time they got to Singapore General Hospital, she had missed the 'golden period' for treatment.

The lack of oxygen to the brain caused her to fall into a coma. Her heart and lungs also started to fail.

After spending five days on life support, the woman died.

According to Lau's father, the doctor from the aesthetic clinic went to the hospital and apologised to his family, saying that his daughter had received botox injections on March 8.

Botox, a neurotoxin, is commonly injected into the forehead or around the eyes to reduce the appearance of wrinkles by relaxing the muscles there.

In rare cases, it's possible for the toxin to spread in the body and cause symptoms such as muscle weakness, vision problems and breathing problems.

But cases of botox shots triggering cardiac arrest are unheard of, a local plastic surgeon told Wanbao.

He suggested that Lau may have had underlying conditions such as heart disease which may have caused her heart to stop pumping.

Unable to get a satisfactory answer from the clinic, the deceased's family lodged a police report on March 10.

Police said that investigations are ongoing.

Last November, a 52-year-old banker in Hong Kong died after receiving about 16 botox shots in a plastic surgery clinic.

The asthmatic woman was believed to have died from breathing difficulties due to "botox poisoning."

lamminlee@asiaone.com