Florida cracks down on plastic surgery centers, becoming among toughest states
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis late Tuesday signed into law the first major reform in more than a decade to the state's cosmetic surgery industry, giving regulators stronger tools than in many other states.
The new law, which takes effect in January, gives the state the power to suspend a clinic's operations or revoke its registration if it determines the facility poses an imminent threat to the public.
The legislation was introduced weeks after a USA TODAY Network investigation revealed in February that eight women had died after procedures at a plastic surgery business owned by one doctor.
Florida Sen. Anitere Flores, who introduced the legislation, said seeing it signed into law was a "vindication for those who have been victimized by these bad actors in surgery centers.”
“More than anything, it is something for the victims and their families to look at and… know that this legislation will save future lives," said Flores, a Republican.
More: This business helped transform Miami into a national plastic surgery destination. Eight women died.
For years Florida has lagged behind other states in regulating the cosmetic surgery industry even as it increasingly became a destination for discount procedures, resulting in dozens of injuries and deaths.
State lawmakers had tried and failed four times since 2014 to pass legislation that would have cracked down on the surgery centers.
Dave Aronberg, the State Attorney for Palm Beach County and a former state senator, said the legislation signed into law Tuesday is "a step in the right direction to increase regulations to prevent future deaths, but it’s disheartening that it’s taken this long."
More: Women seeking discount plastic surgery paid with their lives at clinics opened by felons
At one point the legislation signed Tuesday also mandated background checks for felons, but that measure was stripped from the bill before its passage. At least 13 women died after surgeries at facilities opened by felons over the past 10 years, the USA TODAY Network reported in April as part of its ongoing investigation.
The background checks were pulled off the table after the Agency for Health Care Administration raised concerns about costs, including the possibility of having to pay for seven new staff positions.
In cases where a surgery center's registration is revoked, the reform signed into law Tuesday also gives Florida regulators the ability to deny any person named in the office's registration documents from registering a surgery office for five years.
The new law is part of broader efforts to tighten regulation of Florida's booming cosmetic surgery industry. The Florida Board of Medicine earlier this month approved an emergency measure prohibiting the injection of fat into the gluteal muscle, a particularly dangerous technique used in a popular surgery known as the Brazilian butt lift.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida cracks down on plastic surgery centers, becoming among toughest states
