An Ohio plastic surgeon is seeking her medical license back after being denied access to medicine for livestreaming her surgeries and ruining her job.
Dr. Katharine Roxanne Grawe was suspended in November after the state medical board determined she violated standard operating procedures.
She now hopes to get her driver’s license back. A decision will be made in July.
Grawe was known as “Dr Roxy” to her thousands of social media followers, and many of her clients came to her after being impressed by her TikToks.
In one of the TikTok videos she shared on her YouTube page, she discussed why she live-streamed surgeries, arguing that it was nice for patients to be able to review their procedures.
Dr. Katharine Roxanne Grawe, a plastic surgeon who operated at her clinic in Powell, Ohio, lost her license in November. She is now trying to get her driver’s license back
Grawe regularly livestreamed her surgeries, arguing it was educational
“Do we live stream operations?” she asked.
“It’s Dr. Roxy, I’ll give you the scoop.
‘Yes we do. We show our operations every day on Snapchat. Patients can decide if they want to be part of it. And when you do, you can watch your own operation.
“I do this because it’s kind of fun to see what’s going on back there.
‘It is instructive for people who want to undergo surgery and want to know everything about it.’
Grawe said she always asked for permission, but the state’s medical board said it was inappropriate to share the footage.
Grawe’s patients admitted to being seduced by social media content.
Kelsey Cardenas told ABC 6 that she chose Grawe for her breast augmentation in July 2022 thanks to the TikToks.
“She was the first person I found who matched my energy,” Cardenas said.
“As women, we already know how we pick ourselves apart over things. So to think it’s so easy to walk into her office and she can fix anything that’s wrong with you.’
Kelsey Cardenas said she agreed to live stream her breast augmentation, but now regrets going to Grawe’s surgery
She agreed to share her surgery on social media.
But Cardenas said her surgery was a disaster and left her with massive scars that wouldn’t heal.
“It was all black and starting to open up,” she said.
“I call them in a panic, but their office says, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’ They kept saying to me, ‘In two weeks it will be better, in two weeks it will be better.’
“It took 25 weeks. It wasn’t until December that it was completely closed and I no longer had a scab.’
She said she is now traumatized by the images of her surgery.
‘I let her take me in. I signed all the papers,’ she said.
“I was so excited when I first had surgery to look back at the video.
“But then all this happened and I went back, watched my video and saw her just chatting while she worked on me.
“She’s just sewing and chopping. There’s gauze and blood on me. She talks to the camera and works on me.’
Cardenas said she turned to other doctors for help, who were shocked by her results.
“I went to the wound center,” she said.
“The doctor there was shocked. He said this will never look normal again without reconstructive surgery.’
Grawe had thousands of followers on social media
Grawe filmed a TikTok in which she danced to a song by Megan Thee Stallion in her clinic
Cardenas is adamant that Grawe shouldn’t have her driver’s license reinstated, telling the news station, “I don’t want her to ever hurt anyone else again.”
Four women are suing Grawe for complications following surgery.
The state medical board warned her in September 2021 that it was wrong to livestream her surgeries.
She was urged to take orthopedagogical courses related to plastic surgery complications, professionalism and ethics.
She was asked to provide certificates of course completion along with summaries of what she had learned and how she would apply it in her future practice.
Still, Grawe continued to livestream the surgeries, the state’s medical board said.
“Aspects of these productions include, but are not limited to, preoperative photographs, preoperative interviews with patients about their bodies, live streams of procedures, postoperative still images of patients taken in the operating room, and the cost of the procedure,” the post read. reads to Grawe.
“During some videos/live streams, you engage in dialogue to answer viewers’ questions online, while the surgical procedure is actively progressing.”
In November 2022, the board revoked its license, citing “clear and compelling” evidence that its continued practice posed “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 specialist from 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 she suffered from hepatic encephalopathy – loss of brain function when a damaged liver fails to remove toxins from the blood.
Surgeons discovered that her intestine was perforated and she had a serious bacterial infection.
The patient required an extended 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 proceedings at Grawe’s office were streamed live on social media, according to the board.
Grawe often talked to the camera during her surgeries
The sign said Grawe was looking at and talking to the camera as he performed liposuction on the patient’s abdomen, and was clearly distracted from the surgery.
“Even though liposuction is a blind operation that requires you to be aware of the tip of the cannula (thin tube) to avoid injury, your attention to the camera at those times meant you weren’t looking at the patient or observing the location of the tip of cannula palpated,” reads the suspension notice.
Sabrina Sellers, Grawe’s attorney, insisted the surgeon’s social media was not responsible for the post-surgery complications.
“She will tell you that although three patients experienced adverse outcomes, there were known risks and complications from the procedures and they were not caused by a violation of the standard of care,” Sellers said.
“The reason she’s making those videos public is to interact with her patients. It is to educate, relate and demystify.
“She has nothing to hide.”