Ohio plastic surgeon who livestreamed patient operations on TikTok has state medical license revoked permanently

By Rob Frehse and Maria Sole Campinoti, CNN

(CNN) — An Ohio plastic surgeon who livestreamed some patient operations on TikTok and had three patients report complications after surgery had her state medical license revoked permanently Wednesday, according to the state’s medical board.

Dr. Katharine Roxanne Grawe – also known on social media as “Dr. Roxy” – will “no longer be able to practice medicine in the state of Ohio,” Jerica Stewart, spokesperson for the State Medical Board of Ohio, told CNN.

In addition to revoking Grawe’s license, the board voted to fine her $4,500, Stewart said.

CNN has sought comment from an attorney representing Grawe.

The board had summarily suspended Grawe’s medical license in November after twice reprimanding her. The board said in its notification to her that it had determined her “continued practice presents a danger of immediate and serious harm to the public.”

Grawe, who had a plastic surgery practice in the Columbus suburb of Powell, addressed the panel before board members voted at the hearing Wednesday, according to the New York Times. She said she thought about the board’s criticism over the past year and saw how she had “fallen below the board’s ideal in multiple ways.”

She said she made social media videos because she loved teaching and wanted to explain cosmetic surgery to people outside of the medical field, according to the Times.

“But, as I stand here today, I see how many of those videos appeared silly and unprofessional,” she said.

Interacted with TikTok users during surgeries, report says

In one letter, dated October 9, 2018, the board told her she needed to maintain patient privacy when sharing photos or videos of her patients’ medical procedures on social media. Nearly three years later, the board sent her another letter, dated September 28, 2021, and outlined additional concerns.

“The letter articulated multifaceted issues with your care of these patients, including concerns regarding the lack of informed consent, ethical concerns related to privacy and social media, and avoidable complications that required surgical revision,” the board said in November 2022.

According to a summary of a board hearing in May, one member asked Grawe whether she thought her social media name, “Dr. Roxy,” led her to make decisions about patient care that she might not otherwise have made.

“Absolutely not,” Grawe testified. “I do so many things to – to provide safety for them, and I think – I think that what you’re asking about is the optics we were talking about. I can see how to people it would look like I was caring more about this or posting a TikTok rather than taking care of a patient, but it was never like that.”

She also testified she interacted with TikTok users who posted questions during the surgeries, according to the report from the state medical board. She testified someone else in the room would record and read the questions while livestreaming and she would respond. “I was really just trying to do good and show the surgeries to people,” she said.

Grawe testified that she performed medical procedures on approximately 5,500 patients in the last five years, two to five surgeries per day, according to the medical board’s report summarizing the hearing. Grawe said she primarily performed surgeries on the breasts, abdomen, thighs, arms, and buttocks, including a procedure called a Brazilian butt lift.

During her testimony, Grawe discussed some of the criteria she used prior to conducting an operation, including the importance of each patient seeing a primary care doctor for an evaluation and the risks associated with surgery.

Grawe testified she began documenting her practices on social media in 2010, according to board documents.

Grawe obtained her medical degree in 2005 after completing her studies at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Grawe was certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 2014, according to a summary in the board report.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Sharif Paget and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.