The legislature is poised to tighten the laws regulating buttock lifts in Brazil.
A Senate health care committee approved legislation (SB 1188) which amends a law of 2023 regarding popular plastic surgery procedures and the clinics where the surgeries are performed. The account is identical to HB 1561which cleared a House health care spending committee last week.
Jacksonville Health Attorney Christopher Nuland said the doctors he represents support improving safety for the sought-after plastic surgery procedure. He noted that since the 2023 law was passed, only one death resulting from a butt lift has been reported in Brazil.
But Nuland said as currently written, the bill’s requirement that all surgery centers in the state re-register according to a yet-to-be-released Department of Health (DOH) timeline would effectively close the 724 surgery centers that are currently registered with DOH. This is because the 2023 law required that inspections of state surgery centers be done in person by DOH medical quality assurance (MQA) personnel.
“As written, the bill would say that these people who have been operating for years would be shut down until they could be re-inspected,” he said. “I don’t think it was intended. But this is a concern.”
Nuland also noted his concerns about a section of SB 1188 that requires MQA staff to make referrals to state Office of Health Administration office surgery centers if there is a determination that the center would pose a significant risk to safety and health. patient health and that they would be better served in a hospital or ambulatory surgery center.
“Also, the criteria to be used … allow a single inspector to say in the interest of ‘public health.’ These are the criteria. And while again, we appreciate politics—we love politics—this is not the type of legislation by which these offices can make a reasonable factual determination. We would ask that there be a definition of what surgery is in the office. And these inspectors, as part of the existing inspection program, come in to make sure it’s actually an office surgery, but to have clear standards.”
While opposing the bill on Tuesday, Nuland told committee members “I’m pleased to report that we are working with the Senator’s Office. We are working with the staff. And despite our opposition today, we hope to be able to support a revised bill at the next committee stop.”
The Florida Medical Association also opposed the bill, but did not testify before the committee.
BBLs, or buttock fat grafting, are the fastest growing plastic surgery procedure in the country. BBLs involve two steps: liposuction of fat from the abdomen or back and injection of the pure fat into the subcutaneous layer of the buttocks, which lies beneath the skin but above the gluteal muscle.
Florida Law requires surgeons to register their practices with the DOH if they perform a liposuction procedure that removes more than 1,000 cubic centimeters of excess fat. The law also requires surgeons who perform BBLs to use ultrasound for the part of the procedure where the fat is injected back into the patient’s body.
The 2023 Act was intended to resolve an ongoing regulatory dispute between surgeons and Florida’s two state medical boards, but, as written, provides leeway for surgeons who do not want to register their offices with the state.
SB 1188 changes the law to make it clear that doctors are required to register their practices as surgical centers if 1,000 cubic centimeters of fat is removed, regardless of whether the removal is temporary or permanent.
The bill also strengthens current law to make clear that a doctor must register his practice with the state if any liposuction is performed that requires the patient’s body to be moved 180 degrees or more, or if a buttock fat grafting procedure is performed.
The financial penalties that surgeons face for not registering their offices with the state also change under HB 1561 from a fine of $5,000 per day to a fine of $5,000 per violation.
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