Alice Webb, a 33-year-old British woman, died at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. The mother-of-five suddenly fell ill after undergoing a non-surgical buttock augmentation procedure called lipofilling or Brazilian Bottom Lift (BBL), reports BBC . Two people, suspected of involuntary manslaughter, were arrested in connection with this case. They were released on bail specified The Independent .
The British woman had been admitted to hospital the night before her death. This type of facelift is being criticised by Save Face, a national register of accredited practitioners who offer non-surgical cosmetic treatments. “Last December we launched a campaign calling on the government to ban high-risk liquid BBL procedures”commented the members of the registry. And added: “We expressed our deep concern that if urgent action was not taken, a person could lose their life.”
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Cities have banned the BBL procedure on their territory
Non-surgical BBL procedures are not illegal in the UK. However, in 2023, Wolverhampton City Council banned a company from performing BBL treatments over concerns that the technique could cause blood clots, sepsis and tissue death. Five local authorities in Essex and Glasgow have followed suit to prevent liquid BBL procedures from being performed in their areas.
According to Save Face, some 500 women have suffered complications from the treatment, which involves injecting fat or dermal fillers to alter the shape of the buttocks. Hundreds of women have been hospitalized in emergencies after undergoing butt lifts and breast augmentations performed by unregulated practitioners, Save Face reported earlier this month. The Independent. Surgical operations may have been necessary in some cases to repair the damage.
Popular but risky operations
Liquid BBL Procedures “are presented on social networks as alternatives”“risk free” And “cheaper” to their surgical equivalent, and nothing could be further from the truth.”says Ashton Collins, director of Save Face. According to the organization, lay injectors are often unable to identify and manage their clients’ complications, often misdiagnosing abscesses and tissue necrosis as bruises.
These popular BBL surgeries are risky. 1 in 3,000 women die during the procedure, according to one study.
