TikTok plastic surgeon Dr Roxy loses fight to regain license

A plastic surgeon has lost her fight to regain her medical license, after she was barred from medicine for livestreaming operations which included a botched liposuction that caused a perforated bowel. 

Dr Katharine Roxanne Grawe was struck off in November after The Ohio State Medical Board found she violated standard procedures. 

The surgeon, who went by the name Dr Roxy and posted videos of herself dancing in her scrubs, had been battling to have her license reinstated. 

Despite her efforts, officials at the Ohio State Medical Board ruled to permanently revoke her medical license, reports ABC6. 

Grawe had accumulated thousands of social media followers as ‘Dr Roxy’ and clients eve came to her after they were impressed by her TikToks.

Dr Katharine Roxanne Grawe, a plastic surgeon who operated in her clinic in Powell, Ohio, lost her license in November. She is now seeking to have her license restored

Dr. Roxy, left, is pictured here leaving the meeting of the Ohio State Medical Board earlier today 

Despite battling to have her license reinstated, Dr. Roxy was barred from practicing at a meeting earlier today 

Grawe frequently livestreamed her operations, arguing that it was educational for her viewers

Grawe claimed she always asked permission, but the state medical board said it was inappropriate to share the footage – and that the procedures should have had her full attention.

Speaking to the board, abc6 reported that she said: ‘I ask you from the bottom of my heart to please consider my thoughts with an open mind. 

‘This has humbled me more than you can know. I am willing to change my social media practices and I will never live stream a surgery again.’ 

In response, a medical board member replied: ‘We’ve seen an extreme lack of professionalism. 

‘Her posts done as a marketing ploy. In the video (referring to stream of surgery for Patient One named in case), you can see her looking at the camera and not paying attention to the patient. ‘

According to the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), states actively share information relating to practitioners who have been disciplined. 

The Physician Date Center (PDC) collects and maintains all actions taken against physicians which could hamper any work she wishes to do outside of the state.

The FSMB say that states are notified within 24 hours should a licensee who has been sanctioned by another state appear in their territory, with the notified board free to initiate its own actions. 

The state medical board warned her in September 2021 that it was wrong to livestream her operations.

She was urged to undertake remedial education courses related to plastic surgery complications, professionalism and ethics.

She was asked to provide certificates of completion of the courses, along with summaries about what she learned and how she would apply it to her future practice.

Yet Grawe continued to livestream the operations, the state medical board said.

Grawe filmed a TikTok of herself dancing in her clinic to a Megan Thee Stallion song

In November 2022 the board revoked her license, citing ‘clear and convincing’ evidence that her continued practice presented ‘a danger of immediate and serious harm to the public.’

In one case cited by the state medical board a patient was sent to the emergency room by a nurse practitioner at Roxy Plastic Surgery less than a week after receiving liposuction, a Brazilian butt lift and a skin-tightening procedure from Grawe.

Free air was found in her abdomen and medical staff discovered that she was suffering from hepatic encephalopathy – loss of brain function when a damaged liver fails to remove toxins from the blood.

Surgeons found her bowel had been perforated and she had a serious bacterial infection.

The patient required a prolonged stay with multiple procedures to remove dead tissue, plus open abdomen and skin grafting, according to Grawe’s notice of suspension.

At least part of her procedure at Grawe’s office was livestreamed on social media, according to the board.ich 

The board said Grawe was looking and speaking to the camera while performing liposuction on the patient’s abdomen, and was evidently distracted from the surgery

Some of Grawe’s patients admitted they were seduced by the social media content she had shared. 

Kelsey Cardenas told ABC 6 that she chose Grawe for her July 2022 breast augmentation after watching the TikToks.

Grawe frequently looked at the camera and spoke directly to her followers while operating on her patients

Kelsey Cardenas said she agreed to livestream her breast augmentation, but now regrets going to Grawe’s surgery

Cardenas said.’As a woman, we already know how we pick ourselves apart about stuff. So to think it’s that easy to go into her office and she can fix everything that is wrong with you.’

After agreeing to have her operation shared on social media, it was a disaster and left her with huge scars that would not heal. 

Cardenas continued: ‘They kept telling me, ‘It will be better in two weeks, it will be better in two weeks.’

‘It took 25 weeks. It was not until December that it was fully closed and I didn’t have some sort of scab.’

She said she is now traumatized by the footage of her operation and consulted other doctors who said they were appalled. 

She said: ‘I went to the wound center. The doctor there was appalled. He said this is never going to look normal again without reconstructive surgery.’