A second young woman has been taken to a hospital emergency department after complications during a breast enlargement procedure at The Cosmetic Institute in Sydney.
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The 22-year-old woman from Mordialloc in Victoria was rushed to St Vincent's Hospital emergency unit from The Cosmetic Institute's Bondi clinic after midday on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the hospital said the woman was in a stable condition in the intensive care unit.
Amy Rickhuss, who had a cardiac arrest in January while undergoing breast augmentation surgery at The Cosmetic Institute in Parramatta, said she was shocked to hear about the latest incident from a friend who was in the Bondi clinic at the time of the emergency.
"My friend was there when the alarm went off," Ms Rickhuss said.
"Something needs to be done," she said. "I'll do what I can to help other girls."
Ms Rickhuss has been contacted by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission, which is investigating her case. She has also been seeking legal advice.
Fairfax Media understands Ms Rickhuss, 21, was given intralipid, a drug most commonly used to treat an overdose of local anaesthetic, after she went into cardiac arrest.
Merrilyn Walton, the Professor of Medical Education, Patient Safety at the University of Sydney referred the Rickhuss incident and two others from different clinics to the Health Care Complaints Commission, which she once headed.
One of the three cases involving a different clinic was treated at St Vincent's Hospital.
A spokesman for St Vincent's Hospital confirmed it had recently admitted a cosmetic surgery patient to the hospital's intensive care unit "due to local anaesthesia toxicity".
"Owing to patient confidentiality, we are not in a position to go into any more detail," he said.
Ms Walton said she was concerned to hear about the latest case.
"It's quite concerning that so soon after the last episode that we have another one," she said.
"These facilities are on notice because this issue is now in the public arena."
The Cosmetic Institute released a statement confirming an adverse event at 12.39pm on Wednesday involving a female during a standard breast augmentation procedure at its Bondi Junction clinic.
"Our surgeon and specialist anaesthetist were able to immediately stabilise her on site, and as a precautionary matter we arranged an ambulance transfer to a local hospital for further treatment and observation, where she is now recovering," the statement said.
"Given the patient confidentiality agreements we have with all our patients, we are unable to provide more details other than to say she is safe and stable.
"Patient safety is always front and centre of all our procedures at The Cosmetic Institute clinics. No further medical information can be provided at this stage nor can we speculate on what may have been the cause. We will be maintaining close contact with the patient."
