Laura Avila died on Saturday after a scheduled nose job in Mexico went terribly wrong. Now her fiancé is accusing the Mexican doctors of murder.
Enrique Cruz, Avila’s fiancé, told CBS News that the medical facility in Juarez, Mexico, was shut down after he and Avila’s family hired attorneys. They’re hoping to see the doctors charged with negligence and murder, he said.
Laura Avila was a healthy woman focused on her career and busy with wedding planning in October before her family said doctors in Mexico injected anesthesia in the wrong place in Laura’s spine, her brain swelled, her kidneys failed and she went into cardiac arrest.
The family’s attorney urged others to think about Laura Avila before traveling to Mexico to save money on medical procedures.
“So that her death is not in vain, people should think of Laura before they look for cross-border discount surgery,” Larry Friedman said in a statement to WFAA. “They should do their homework and investigate the experience, training and track record of anyone BEFORE they sign up. Always LOOK before you leap!”
A 2017 study estimated nearly 1.5 million Americans were expected to travel outside the U.S. for medical care. In Mexico, procedures can cost anywhere between 40 and 65 percent less than in the U.S. Laura Avila’s family estimates her procedures were somewhere around $8,500.