SB 732 Revises Regulations On Cosmetic Surgery Centers.
Due to the increase in fatal results on aesthetic procedures.
This Bill is being proposed by Senator Anitere Flores. Its goal is to demand responsibility from Aesthetic Clinics, where there have been patients that have died and to close these human butcher shops.
By: Edda Pujadas
Miami has become an empire for plastic surgery, and it is attracting patients from all over the United States with the promise of economic surgeries and results that will change people’s lives. But this is not always the case; every day there are more women that die or end up with serious injuries after going through an aesthetic procedure that has been performed by unskilled personnel.
Because of this growing reality, the members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services voted unanimously to approve SB 732, which was sponsored by Senator Anitere Flores. This bill mandates that the Department of Health establishes the requirements to register all aesthetic clinics and to impose regulations on them.
This Bill will also increase the state’s ability to make these centers comply with the regulations by giving it the power to revoke the registration of a cosmetic center, restrict the reopening of new offices and to impose fines, for example. It will also establish three different levels for the surgeries in an office, from level I which will include simple procedures such as removing a mole, up to level III which will be the most complicated and that will require the presence of an anesthesiologist on site.
Senator’s Flores initiative seeks that both the doctors that conduct aesthetic surgeries and the centers in which these surgeries take place are duly regulated and properly trained. On its side, the Florida Board of Medicine is already working on the review of the rules that allow clinics to perform liposuction in the doctor’s offices. It’s Vice President, Hector Vila, requested that the rules for liposuction are revised, specifically the ones on gluteal fat grafting, commonly known as buttock lifts.
The cases that have taken place in Miami have triggered that several plastic surgery organizations, among them the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, The American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery have requested that the Board of Medicine provides the patients with additional information on all the procedures.
BEYOND VANITY
To support the arguments that prompted Senator Flores to propose this bill, the only thing needed is to review the most recent cases in the news in which it is evident that there are plenty of clinics that offer very cheap surgeries that call the attention of people. In the name of vanity, these people search for bargains and frequently choose an economy that does not offer the best quality in services.
These are, generally speaking, investors; they promote their services in social networks with discounted pricing, but the promises of the ideal body vanish before the dangers of disfigured faces, permanent scars, damaged organs, mutilations, deformities and in some extreme cases, death.
These clinics, which are often not properly certified, work as a factory assembly line, where individual doctors, most of them with little specialized training, perform surgery in as many as eight patients per day. This has caused deaths and injuries that were not the result of inevitable surgery complications, but of serious mistakes and procedures that were beyond safety limits.
Even when the Florida Department of Health has the ability to impose emergency suspensions to those facilities that pose a public health threat, legal regulations are more urgent in order to protect the patient, which most of the times do not even know what to ask and whose only concern is to look better at the lowest cost possible.
CERTIFICATION AND INFORMATION
Unfortunately, the lack of information is one mistake that many patients make when they decide to undergo aesthetic surgery. For example, knowing if the plastic surgeon operating on the person is certified is the first question that someone should ask before going into the operating room.
When people go through a medical procedure that is not an aesthetic one, this has been previously referred to by a primary doctor or the doctor performing the procedure belongs to the network of some insurance or both, and in this case, the credentials of the doctor have already been verified. It is important to also take into consideration that doctors who offer cosmetic services usually do not work within a hospital system but in their own office.
This means that if you are thinking about having aesthetic plastic surgery, the first step is to find a doctor that is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Another important question to ask the doctor is to know the alternatives that you have in case there are any complications, for example, is there urgent access to a hospital?
It is also important to always remember that all surgeries have risks and that plastic surgeries are no exception. Do not place your trust in places that perform different procedures simultaneously, do not be carried away by plans and rates that are excessively cheap and always verify, not only the doctor but also that the clinic is authorized to perform the type of surgeries that you need.
Be meticulous, consult with the surgeon if you are fit to undergo the surgical procedure, and if you need to get any type of physical, medical or psychological test. Learn how the preparation for the surgery will be, the procedure and the recovery process. Verify the quality and hygiene of the materials that are going to be used during the surgery and follow all the recommendations of the surgeon in order to have a better recovery. If you experience any complication, get in touch directly with the surgeon.
Asking these questions will not only help you know that the qualifications of the person that is going to perform the surgery, the place where you will get the surgery and the procedure are the correct ones, but it will also demonstrate that you are an informed patient, one that will be difficult to deceive with false promises.
Remember that the Florida Department of Health offers the Medical Quality Assurance service, where you can verify the medical license, record of studies, professional certifications and any history of disciplinary sanctions of the medical professionals. All the information is available at this webpage: http://flhealthsource.gov/