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Brazil's 'Popeye' Arlindo de Souza Dies at 55 After Renal Crisis in Recife

Brazil’s 2023 ban on aesthetic steroid prescribing frames renewed warnings from clinicians about lethal risks from oil injections.

Overview

  • He had been hospitalized at Hospital Otávio de Freitas since December 2025 with severe renal failure and suffered a cardiac arrest before hemodialysis could begin, according to family.
  • Relatives confirmed his death on January 13, 2026, and his burial at the Águas Compridas cemetery in Olinda, noting he lived modestly by selling mineral water and doing occasional masonry work.
  • His outsized biceps resulted from decades of mineral oil injections and reported anabolic use, with de Souza once saying his arms measured about 73 centimeters.
  • Medical experts from groups such as AHOSP and SBEM warned that injectable oils and unsupervised hormones can cause tissue necrosis, gangrene, thrombosis, cardiovascular events and systemic damage.
  • Regulators had already moved to curb aesthetic steroid use, with the Federal Council of Medicine prohibiting such prescribing in April 2023.