Last week, a close friend of mine learned that her sister had died during a liposuction procedure being done in the office of a gynecologist in California under local anesthesia.
Let's just get my opinions out in the open:
1.
NO ONE should EVER die or suffer life threatening injury (for example, a punctured lung or organ) during or after liposuction. When performed by someone who has spent years training in plastic surgery and has achieved Board Certification in the specialty, it should be one of the safest operations we do.
2. All Liposuction IS surgery. Just because a doctor (who you may think is very nice) is offering to do it for you in their office, under local anesthesia, does NOT mean it is not surgery.3.
The fact that a manufacturer of a liposuction machine is willing to sell it to you and offer you a bit of training over a few weekends, does not make you competent to perform the procedure. Board Certified Plastic Surgeons spend an average of 3-5 years intensively training under the direct supervision of other Board Certified Plastic Surgeons- and this after 3-5 years learning general surgery. There is no shortcut to this kind of experience and training, no matter how many weekend courses you attend.
4. Items 1-3 help explain why the 3-4 deaths associated with liposuction I am aware have occurred (within the past few months alone) have all occurred at the hands of non-plastic surgeons.- One patient died having liposuction by a doctor of Rehabilitation Medicine
- One died during liposuction by a doctor of Family Practice
- One died during liposuction being done by a Gynecologist
As my friend learned more about the circumstances surrounding the loss of her sister (a previously healthy woman in her early 60's), bewilderment turned to shock, which quickly grew to outrage and a deep sense of loss made only worse by the belief (based on her training and experience in plastic surgery) that
standards of care in liposuction had been deeply violated.The case is being investigated currently by the appropriate authorities, and it would not be responsible for me to involve myself- however, having been asked by my friend to consider the details of the events she is aware of and help her form an opinion of what happened, I can (considering it is possible- though unlikely- that new information will change my interpretation) say comfortably that
this death would never have happened had the patient been in the hands of a responsible, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.If you or someone you know is considering a Body Contouring procedure, it is imperative that you find a surgeon who is not only Certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery, but has over time exhibited the
high moral and ethical behavior you would want someone performing surgery on you to have.
The fact is that during any operative procedure, your surgeon (if you in fact are in the hands of a surgeon) will be required to
make decisions. Sometimes many... and that this chain of seemingly small decisions will necessarily affect your outcome, and thus your happiness with your body... but also will affect your safety and possibly your chances of even surviving the procedure.
My heartfelt opinion is that
no one who has not had the benefit of the years of supervised training in surgery, plastic surgery, and liposuction could be well equipped to make these decisions. Compromising the integrity of the procedure, your outcome, and again, your safety.
Further, and as I have said before, I believe that at some level, most of these physicians know (because they themselves completed residency training in
something) they don't know as much about liposuction as they would if they had completed plastic surgery training and board certification. Yet they are still willing to market themselves as liposuction experts and perform surgery on patients in order to increase their revenue.
So I ask-
what does it say about these physicians that they are willing to sell themselves as liposuction experts despite their lack of legitimate training and experience, and despite the growing number of deaths, punctured lungs, injured organs and terrible contour deformities being seen nationally?In my opinion, it does not say anything positive or admirable.
Think this is not a problem you may have to deal with? Think again...
In Orlando, there are (that I know of) 2 gynecologists, a urologist, an eye doctor, and 2 ER doctors aggressively marketing liposuction.
Only when public outrage over these injuries and deaths grows (which in my opinion is going to require many more unnecessary fatalities) or the legislature demands all physicians to fully disclose the nature and specialty of their residency training will the risk of dying during liposuction decline.
