The State Medical Board of Ohio has suspended the license of plastic surgeon Katherine Roxanne Grawe, MD, for livestreaming procedures to her followers on TikTok, according to a Jan. 4 report from Medscape.
Dr. Grawe, who practiced in Powell, Ohio, had her license suspended in November after the state board alleged that she endangered patients by pausing to respond to online viewer's questions while procedures were ongoing.
One patient allegedly suffered from a perforated bowel and a serious bacterial infection following a liposuction procedure performed by Dr. Grawe that was livestreamed.
Dr. Grawe, known as Dr. Roxy on TikTok, has 841,600 followers and 14.6 million likes on her videos.
"We show our surgeries every single day on Snapchat. Patients get to decide if they want to be part of it. And if you do, you can watch your own surgery," Dr. Grawe said in a TikTok video.
Rod Rohrich, MD, a plastic surgeon in Dallas, has written about social media best practices for physicians as TikTok and livestreaming has increased in popularity. He warns that many surgeons have been reprimanded by state medical boards for reasons similar to the ones Dr. Grawe is facing.
In December, an Atlanta hospital fired four nurses over a TikTok video in which they talked about working in the hospital's obstetrics unit.
"It is best not to do live-streaming unless it is an educational event to demonstrate techniques and technology with full informed consent of the patient. It should be a very well-rehearsed event for education," Dr. Rohrich told Medscape.