Story By Marija Stojkoska /Newsflash
News Editor Ajda Ender /Newsflash
A 31-year-old entrepreneur from the US has died after undergoing four cosmetic procedures at a Brazilian hospital whose operating theatre was later found to be operating illegally.
Adriele da Silva Pinto, 31, poses in undated photo. She died during plastic surgery at a clinic in downtown Ilheus, Brazil. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
Adriele da Silva Pinto died in Ilheus, in the southern Bahia state of northeastern Brazil, on the night of 25th August, after travelling from the United States for the surgery.
Adriele da Silva Pinto, 31, poses in undated photo. She died during plastic surgery at a clinic in downtown Ilheus, Brazil. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
Adriele had lived in the US for around five years and had travelled to Bahia to undergo a breast lift with implants, liposculpture, rib remodelling and a plasma treatment.
Adriele da Silva Pinto, 31, poses in undated photo. She died during plastic surgery at a clinic in downtown Ilheus, Brazil. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
The operation began at around 3pm on 25th August and was expected to finish by 8pm, but her family was only informed of her death in the early hours of 26th August after raising concerns about the delay.
Picture shows Rossini Tebaldi Ruback, undated. According to the family members, the doctor responsible for the procedures was Dr. Rossini Tebaldi Ruback, who in 2023 was the target of complaints made by patients. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
The hospital said Adriele suffered a rare and serious complication associated with anaesthesia, which could have been linked to a genetic predisposition.
Hospital Vida said in a statement: “Despite all the efforts made by the team, unfortunately it was not possible to reverse the situation.”
The surgeon responsible, Rossini Tebaldi Ruback, said through his legal team that the operation had proceeded without complications until its final stage.
According to his defence, Adriele then suffered a sudden and unexpected deterioration, with signs considered compatible with malignant hyperthermia, a rare and potentially fatal reaction to certain anaesthetic agents.
The statement said: “Once the condition was identified, the recommended emergency measures were immediately adopted, with the administration of specific medication and the necessary procedures to stabilise the patient, with the participation of a cardiologist in the resuscitation efforts.”
The defence also rejected claims that Rossini had abandoned the hospital after Adriele’s death, saying he and members of the medical team had been instructed by security to remain in a protected area after an episode of violence and vandalism at the hospital.
A major development came on 27th August when Bahia’s state health department ordered the hospital’s operating theatre to be temporarily closed after inspectors found it was operating without a sanitary licence.
Officials said there had not even been an application for the required licence for the operating theatre, although the health department did not say how long it had been operating without one or what procedures had been carried out there.
Danilo Amorim, coordinator of the Southern Regional Health Department, said the operating theatre had not been functioning when it was last inspected in November 2025.
He said: “We did not have plans for the operating theatre to be functioning at this unit. The unit entered the sanitary licensing process, but it did not include the operating theatre. In our last inspections, it remained out of operation.”
After the death was reported, officials discovered that the theatre had subsequently been operating without the required authorisation.
Amorim said: “Cautiously, it is now closed. It will go through the appropriate process and the necessary measures will be taken.”
Adriele’s family buried her in Itubera, also in southern Bahia, on 27th August and held a demonstration calling for justice alongside her coffin.
Her body was taken to the Technical Police Department in Ilheus, with the autopsy report expected within 30 days.
The Bahia Civil Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death through the 1st Territorial Police Station in Ilheus.
Rossini had also been the subject of complaints from patients in 2023 alleging serious complications and deformities following cosmetic procedures, although the claims are separate from the investigation into Adriele’s death.
The Regional Council of Medicine of Bahia said there was no ongoing professional ethics case against Rossini at its medical ethics tribunal, adding that previous complaints had been dealt with confidentially.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
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