"It's like a massacre and it has to stop": victim of bad plastic surgery
Lucilda Briggs is one of the five people who traveled from Panama to have surgery with Juan Pablo Robles, who is being investigated for falsifying a private document. Although on arrival he announced that a colleague would carry out the procedure - since he is forbidden - the result was disastrous.
The story about fake plastic surgeons in Colombia has a new chapter , and this time it reached international dimensions. Although a group of victims managed to subdue six doctors who practice "false titles" to justice, it seems that some of them have managed to stand in a gray area to avoid the measure that prohibits them from continuing to operate
Since 2016, a group of victims, led by journalist Lorena Beltrán, began to mobilize to take action against a set of alleged "plastic surgeons" who did not have the necessary qualifications to perform this type of procedure.
These were doctors who had taken courses that lasted only between 360 and 1,500 hours , developed in places like the Veiga de Almeida University in Brazil, and approved them as plastic surgery titles (involving about 5,440 hours) before the Ministry of Education. (It may be of interest to you:
It is known, for information that reached the Prosecutor's Office, that there are 43 doctors who practice with this type of validation. Meanwhile, the six who have a judicial process over have been prevented from operating preventively since October 2017. In this last list is Juan Pablo Robles, who, despite not continuing to operate on paper, does continue to promote his surgeries in Colombia and abroad.
The strategy is simple: Robles promotes itself in Panama, brings the patients and, once they arrive in Colombia, announces that the person who will perform the procedure is Dr. Óscar Cuervo, who is part of the 43 doctors who would have an irregular validation. Of course, Robles warns, he will be in the operating room. El Espectador spoke with Lucilda Briggs, who traveled from Panama to operate with Robles in December 2017 with four more people, and who reports that her breasts were deformed after the procedure. (Read: 'Brazilian Butt', the deadliest of all aesthetic surgeries )
How did you hear about the existence of Robles?
I saw it in 2016 on Instagram. He promoted surgery packages in Colombia with accommodation and everything required. In addition, he had operated on many women in Panama.
When was the surgery done?
From Panama, five people arrived on December 9, 2017. He sent us to pick us up at the airport and then they took us to the apartment where we had to stay, because even the food was included in the package. Some were operated on in the following days, but my surgery was until December 19, because I had problems with the pressure.
How much did you charge for the "combo" of surgery plus travel?
It changed. The cost with breasts was US $ 3,000, but since mine was breast reduction and liposuction, they were US $ 1,100 more for everything.
How did the breasts look after the operation?
On the left he felt the implant and, on the right, if he saw the photos, he was deformed. Atrocious. I arrived in Panama on December 23, because Robles also went on a trip and closed everything. When I saw that my breasts were still inflamed, I called him on the phone and what he was doing was indicating an aesthetic in Panama, with which he has a connection, what to inject.
And when did you learn that Robles was being investigated?
In January, because it came out on the news in Panama. The horror came over me. I did not understand why he did it. When we were in Colombia, what he told us was that he was not going to operate on us, but colleague Óscar Cuervo, but that he was going to be in the surgery room. But until yesterday I found out that Cuervo is on the Attorney General's list.
Did you contact him after that?
Yes, I called him and at the beginning he did not answer me. Then he left me a voice message saying that he did not pay attention, that he had studied in Brazil, but since they did not accept those documents they said that he was the worst. That was not a mishap, and I came to believe him.
And when did he stop believing?
Because I started to check the results of other surgeries, and after three months my breasts were still inflamed. I told him to return the money, but what Robles answered was that he could re-evaluate me. But I told him that I'm not crazy, I do not accept that neither he nor anyone else from him touches me again.
How did the other four people who traveled to have an operation with Robles do?
Wrong. The five of us want to join the public denunciation.
He recently returned to Colombia to correct his breasts with another doctor. How did it go?
I went back to operate here on August 29, 2018, because the doctors in Panama say that they do not take responsibility for the Colombian operations. Once the doctor saw me, she said: "Those breasts are horrible", that the implant that I had was Chinese and that they did not understand how they had lasted so long, because they could leave me. They were not placed behind the muscle.
Do you plan to file a criminal complaint against Robles?
Yes, on Monday I go to the Ombudsman's Office. Also, because he says I'm threatening him. When I told him I was in Colombia and that he returned the money, he answered the following. "1. I'm going to send you our lawyer's phone number. 2. It was not me who operated it. 3. You signed the informed consent where the results were explained. 4. You have the right to file the actions you consider necessary. And you can erase the audios because I already send them to the lawyers. "
How much contact have you had with Dr. Cuervo?
They were both in the surgery room, and Dr. Cuervo was the one who dialed me before the surgery.
And in the postoperative reappeared Crow?
No, only Robles. I came for him, he was the one I contacted and who I paid him.
Do you know anything more about this in Panama?
No, and if this does not stop, people will continue to arrive, because in addition to networks, he changed the name of Clínica Robles to Armmonya. So women are going to keep coming. It's like a massacre and it has to stop
