A 21-year-old woman has died after undergoing liposuction to remove fat from her waist and thighs at a private clinic in Utrecht. The cause of death is not yet known but is under investigation by health inspectors.

Liposuction is regarded as a low-risk cosmetic surgery technique in the Netherlands. The woman was taken to the Utrecht University Medical Centre after suffering complications on the operating table at a clinic run by Aestheticare and died soon afterwards.
The clinic, Medisch Centrum Biltstraat, is registered with the private clinic’s umbrella body ZKN.
The number of private clinics in the Netherlands has soared in recent years. In 2004, health inspectors criticised the widely differing standards of care on offer. At around half of the clinics it was unclear if doctors had the proper papers to carry out the treatment they were offering.