Odalis Santos Mena was a young fitness influencer and bodybuilder with a huge social media following. Her influence led to a promotional deal with the SkinPiel clinic, a deal that would ultimately result in her death at the age of 23 years old.
As part of Mena’s SkinPiel deal, she was required to undergo a procedure that SkinPiel was promoting. The procedure, called miraDry, was designed to reduce underarm sweating. Excessive underarm sweating was not a problem for Mena, but she agreed to undergo the procedure anyway, and she shared that she was undergoing the procedure on social media. Unfortunately, something went terribly wrong in the middle of the procedure.
During the procedure, Mena suffered from cardiac arrest. She did not survive. The big question is why did she have a heart attack during the procedure?
SkinPiel was quick to blame Mena for the tragic outcome of the procedure. The clinic claimed that Mena failed to disclose certain substances that were in her body at the time of the procedure, and they claimed that it was a reaction between those substances and the substances used during the procedure that resulted in her death.
A statement released by SkinPiel explained, “Everything seems to indicate that the anesthesia reacted with the substances present in Odalis’ body, since steroids, anabolics, and clenbuterol alter the metabolism and affect the growth of the heart.”
Mena’s boyfriend, Victor Manuel Gómez Carreño, jumped to Mena’s defense claiming that she did not use steroids and that even if she had they would not have caused her death. Gómez Carreño told Insider that the toxicology reports he received following Mena’s death indicated that there was no trace of oxandrolone, creatine, or clenbuterol in Mena’s body at the time of her death. In addition, the report indicated, “The cause of death was determined as anaphylactic reaction secondary to anesthesia.”
Gómez Carreño added, “There is no medical support for what they mention. We consulted with anesthesia specialists and they all ruled out the possibility of a negative effect even if Odalis was taking steroids since there is no absolute contraindication between steroids and anesthesia. Even so, the autopsy showed that Odalis did not have said substances in her body.”
Gómez Carreño blamed his girlfriend’s death on an unfortunate allergic reaction that could “happen to anyone.” He said her death had “absolutely nothing to do with the sport she practiced and to which she devoted her life and years of work.”
In addition, the Jalisco State Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigated into Mena’s death.
