The Jig Is Up for TikTok's 'Dr. Roxy'

A plastic surgeon who made a name for herself in livestreaming procedures on TikTok can no longer practice in Ohio after the state's Medical Board found she'd neglected patients while focused on her viewers. The board voted Wednesday to strip Dr. Katharine Roxanne Grawe, better known as Dr. Roxy, of her medical license, which had been suspended since Nov. 18. The board cited three patients who said they suffered complications from surgery performed by Grawe. One who underwent liposuction during a livestream suffered a perforated small bowel and ended up experiencing a loss of brain function from toxins in the blood. The board said Grawe was shown looking and speaking to the camera in the midst of the procedure, per USA Today.

Another of Grawe's patients experienced an infection in her abdomen and is likely to suffer lifelong complications, the board said. "These patients trusted Dr. Roxy because of what they saw on social media," said an attorney representing the state. "She made major surgeries with potentially life-altering complications seem like one big party." Grawe was cautioned at least twice in the four years before her license was suspended about the need to maintain patient privacy on social media. She abided by an order to complete remedial education courses about plastic surgery and ethics, but she kept up her livestreams afterward. In suspending her license, the board cited "clear and convincing" evidence that her practice presented "a danger of immediate and serious harm to the public."

At Wednesday's hearing, Grawe claimed she'd already suffered enough from the suspension of her license and impacts on her personal life. She said her husband had left her and her children had been harassed at school, per the New York Times. Though she acknowledged her actions "at times seemed careless and offended my patients and colleagues," she said she had used social media to educate the public. Board vice president Jonathan Feibel countered that she only wanted to grow her brand, and that she "put patients in danger for the social media world," per USA Today. Grawe's "social media persona was more important to her than the lives of the patients she treated," he said. The board noted videos showed Grawe responding to viewer questions "while the surgical procedure remains actively ongoing," per the Times. (More plastic surgeons stories.)