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WEST VALLEY CITY — Two people were charged with performing post-liposuction and other medical procedures in the basement of a West Valley home, even though neither has a medical license in the United States.
Yulina Barrientos-Canizales, 38, of West Valley, and Juan Carlos Claire Valdez, 29, of Salt Lake City, were each charged Thursday in 3rd District Court with unlawful conduct by a physician, a third-degree felony.
West Valley police began their investigation in September when they received a report from the Utah Division of Professional Licensing that Barrientos-Canizales "was conducting medical procedures, including post liposuction coolsculpting, without licensing in the basement of her rental residence at 3733 South Pavant Dr.," according to charging documents.
Investigators searched the home and "found medical release forms and several medical devices including a laser, cryo-sculpting machine, and plasma spinner," in addition to various controlled medications including hormonal medication and a local anesthetic.
When questioned, Barrientos-Canizales said she had been trained as a licensed skin care professional in Colombia in 2006, the charges state. She told police she purchased some of the drugs she uses in Colombia and her machines — which were not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — from China, according to the charges.
She admitted to injecting some medications into patients and extracting fluids from some who came to her after surgery, and "when surgery patients come to her, they bleed heavily and sometimes wear diapers to contain the blood," the charges state.
Valdez told investigators he occasionally went to the home to do blood work on patients, according to charging documents. He said he would draw blood, "spin the blood" and sometimes do injections on patients' faces, according to the charges.
Valdez said he graduated with a degree in medical surgery in Mexico in 2019, but he did not pass the medical board tests in the U.S., according to prosecutors.
