A plastic surgery performed by an unqualified civilian has resulted in the death of a woman in the Bronx, New York.

Forty-three-year-old Siordaliza Pichardo, a mother of two, died March 18, following an illegal procedure that was allegedly performed by one of her friends.

The initial autopsy wasn’t conclusive.

But a medical examiner’s office finally declared the case a homicide after Pichardo was shown to have died of a silicone pulmonary embolism.

This was the result of an amount of silicone that caused clotting in her lungs.

Sources say this began shortly after Pichardo received injections of silicone into her thighs in hopes of reshaping her thighs and buttocks.

The friend, Elsa Then, is reportedly a female cosmetologist with no medical license or qualifications.

One few hours after the injection, Pichardo asked family members to take her to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, complaining of dizziness, vomiting and breathing problems.

She later went into cardiac arrest and died within an hour.

Pichardo’s 21-year-old son Kelvin Rodriguez went on record as saying he had opposed his mother’s surgery attempt from the very beginning, since he felt she didn’t need it.

Sources say no arrests have been made, but the case is still under investigation.

This is yet another tragic event that stresses the importance of using a board certified Plastic Surgeon  to perform any cosmetic procedure, no matter how small you think that procedure might be.

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Organizations mentioned in this week’s episode:

• Dow Corning Corporation
• Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
• Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (UK)
• Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
• Research and Markets
• Johnson & Johnson
• Mentor Corporation
• DermaMed International, Inc.
• Marina Plastic Surgery
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (medical journal)
• UT Southwestern
• FamousPlastic.com
• Dr. William P. Adams, Jr.