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NEW YORK (WCBS) — The death of a woman after she visited a Bronx lifestyle center for a popular anti-aging injection is raising questions about the safety of treatments used to keep people beautiful.
The incident prompted CBS News New York Investigates to look into how you can keep yourself safe when attempting to do any of these treatments.
The 27-year-old walked into Bereshit Lifestyle Center on Riverdale Avenue on Sunday and police say Luis Rojas Cabrera injected her with NAD+, a compound some market as an anti-aging miracle.
A little more than an hour later, she was dead, police say.
“I am not a licensed doctor in New York,” Cabrera told police in the criminal complaint.
The 55-year-old is now charged with reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice.
Cabrera was arraigned and released and his attorney declined comment at this time.
The medical examiner will determine the cause of the woman’s death.
A treatment going horribly wrong is a scenario that’s not uncommon, according to the New York Department of State, which posted a warning about unlawful medical spas back in January.
The state said another woman in Flushing, Queens, was apparently told she was getting Botox and stem cells. Instead, officials say an unknown substance left her burned and blistered.
Walter Mosley, New York’s secretary of state, is currently overseeing an investigation into med spas.
“We have over 337 med spa inspections that have been completed,” Mosley said.
The Department of State said 24 have been shut down via an emergency order, and 16 lost their license, adding investigators found expired drugs, counterfeit products, and even fentanyl.
CBS News New York Investigates asked Dr. Tommaso Addona, a board-certified plastic surgeon at New York Plastic Surgical Group, how people can protect themselves before beauty treatments.
“When I was in training, we had providers inject in their garage in Queens and we would see the complications from those patients,” Addona said.
He said there are three licenses you should always ask about — the person, the building, and the bottle.
“The person administering the injection, you want a license there. The facility that’s actually hosting the provider, you want a facility licensure there. And then on top of that is the manufacturing license. These products have to come from companies that are authorized and approved to manufacture these products,” Addona said, adding a medical license is needed to do injections.
He explained his own rule.
“When I send my family to see someone, I do a deep dive online about them,” Addona said. “The reality is, it’s been going on for decades. It’s tough to control. but patients can control it, because they can do their homework.”
Addona offered his reaction when he learned of what happened to the woman in the Bronx.
“Terrified for patients is how I felt,” Addona said.
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