NBI joins buttocks implant investigation

MANILA, Philippines - Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct its own chemical analysis of the hydrogel used for the buttocks implant made on a businesswoman who filed a complaint against the Belo Medical Group (BMG), owned by celebrity cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vicki Belo.

The complainant Josefina Norcio is now at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City undergoing medical procedures to correct the surgeries conducted by doctors that included Dr. Francis Decangchon who formerly employed by the BMG.

NBI Head Agent Ross Bautista, executive officer of the Office of Deputy Director for Intelligence Services (DDIS), Norcio had been in and out of the hospital since May 10, said Bautista.

He said he had initial talks with Decangchon who reportedly performed the surgery for hydrogel buttocks implants on the 40-year-old Norcio.

Bautista said Decangchon, who is no longer affiliated with the BMG, is set to appear at the NBI anytime to give a statement.

He said the NBI Chemistry Division conducted chemical analysis on the hydrogel implants taken from the complainant.

“We are just waiting for the results of the chemical analysis. Doctors at the St. Luke’s Medical Center had already taken the foreign substance from Norcio’s body. The hydrogel developed sort of bacteria and the infection spread to other parts of her body. And according to her lawyers, she almost died,” said Bautista.

Bautista also requested St. Luke’s Medical Center to furnish the NBI with Norcio’s medical records.

He said BMG has already furnished the bureau some medical records. The bureau earlier sent a subpoena to the BMG asking for medical records as well as the 201 file of Decangchon.

Bautista later on identified that another surgeon Dr. Ronaldo Cayetano was also involved in the procedure conducted on Norcio in 2002.

He said the BMG is cooperating in the probe.

Meanwhile, Decangchon, 52, who is in medical practice for the past 29 years, denied that Norcio was a victim of malpractice.

Decangchon admitted he did a “second fix” on Norcio’s buttock augmentation in 2005 “by observing proper protocol and following all the necessary procedures.”

He claimed that the procedures applied to Norcio’s case were similar with the breast implant surgery wherein cases of infection could possibly occur within a week or a month after the operation “but to say that the infection occurred after some five years, it’s very far fetch,” Decangchon said.