A 33-year-old woman died during the third session of an extensive tattoo in Bogotá, Colombia, after receiving intravenous sedation to manage the pain, according to Colombian media reports.
Yenifer García died on August 15 while having a tattoo done on her back and part of her buttocks. Her family said she had tolerated the first two sessions without medication but decided to pay an additional 600,000 Colombian pesos, about $200, for sedation during the final session.
The tattoo artist arrived at García’s home that morning accompanied by a man who presented himself as an anesthesiologist. They reportedly brought a stretcher, oxygen equipment and medical supplies.
According to the family, the woman was initially awake and talking after the sedation was administered but gradually fell into a deep sleep. Her daughter called emergency services, and the tattoo artist and his assistant were instructed to perform resuscitation maneuvers until paramedics arrived. García could not be revived.
The case is now under investigation, with the medication administered during the procedure at the center of the inquiries. The family reportedly found containers of ketamine and Dormicum, whose active ingredient is midazolam, as well as syringes and other medical supplies at the scene.
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García’s family also questioned the credentials of the man who administered the medication. Bogotá’s Health Secretariat reportedly checked Colombia’s national health personnel registry and found that the alleged anesthetist was registered as a nursing assistant technician, not as an anesthesiologist.
According to her relatives, García was a seamstress and mother of three children, aged 19, 14 and 10. She had been in a relationship with their father for more than two decades and was planning a family trip to San Andrés to celebrate her daughter’s 15th birthday.
The circumstances surrounding her death and the medication used during the tattoo session remain under investigation.
