Was it a medical mistake/ an accident of fate /  or…. was it the Cocaine?  An inquest is held on the intra-operative death of an Irish medical tourist..

In a recent inquest, the wife of  an Irish tourist who died while undergoing liposuction with a well-known Colombian plastic surgeon talked about her husband and his decision to pursue plastic surgery with Dr. Ricardo Lancheros Pedraza.

In a published story by Gareth Naughton of the Irish Independent, the wife of Pierre Christian Lawlor detailed her husband’s decision to undergo cosmetic surgery with the Bogotá surgeon due to unhappiness with his physique.

During her testimony, she also conceded that her husband had taken cocaine in the days and hours immediately prior to surgery – despite being advised specifically to refrain from smoking, alcohol or taking medications.

In a story published in Irish Central – Ms. Andrea Galeano, the Venezuelan-borne wife of Mr. Farrell reported that her husband had taken cocaine on several occasions after arriving in Bogotá for his surgical procedure.

Mr. Farrell is believed to have died from intra-operative myocardial infarction (heart attack during surgery).

Additional Information

This Daily Mail article from 2012 describes how the use of cocaine can cause heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death.

Medical News Today article

Scholarly articles:

Finkel JB, Marhefka GD. (2011).  Rethinking cocaine-associated chest pain and acute coronary syndromes.    Mayo Clin Proc. 2011 Dec;86(12):1198-207. doi: 10.4065/mcp.2011.0338.

Schwartz BG, Rezkalla S, Kloner RA. (2010).  Cardiovascular effects of cocaine.

Circulation. 2010 Dec 14;122(24):2558-69. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.940569. Review.