TikTok-famous 'Dr. Roxy' loses medical license after livestreaming plastic surgery operations to her over 800,000 followers

Dr. Katharine Grawe, an Ohio-based plastic surgeon who livestreamed procedures on TikTok, officially had her medical license revoked by the Ohio State Medical Board on July 12.

Grawe, who went by Dr. Roxy on TikTok and had over 825,000 followers, initially had her license suspended in November 2022 after former patients started to complain about post-procedure injuries. The board accused Grawe of neglecting her patients by livestreaming parts of their procedures and speaking into the camera and answering viewer questions while the surgeries were happening.

“The board had reason to believe that Dr. Grawe’s practice, with respect to three patients, fell below the standard of care,” Assistant Attorney General Melinda Ryan Snyder said in May.

In one of those cases, Grawe had livestreamed herself giving a patient a liposuction, a Brazilian butt lift and a skin-tightening procedure. Less than a week later, a nurse practitioner at Grawe’s office sent the patient to the emergency room. Medical staff found free air in the patient’s abdomen and concluded the patient was suffering from hepatic encephalopathy — a reversible condition caused by liver dysfunction.

Grawe’s attorney, Sabrina Sellers, argued that livestreaming the procedures were intended for “educational use” and to make future clients, who maybe were researching Grawe prior to visiting her office, feel more comfortable and familiar with her.

“The reason she places those videos out into the public are to relate to her patients,” Sellers said. “It’s to educate, relate and demystify. She has nothing to hide.”

Snyder continued on to accuse Grawe’s social media presence of affecting her patient care.

“There is no reason to video multiple surgeries for educational purposes,” Snyder responded. “Really, one will do.”

The secretary of the Ohio State Medical Board said the board had been warning Grawe about her social media presence for years. At least twice in the previous four years, Grawe was reminded about patient privacy while sharing photos and videos, but she still continued to film and post.

In September 2021, Grawe was asked to take remedial education courses about plastic surgery complications, professionalism and ethics, which she completed.

The American Medical Association has a code of ethics when it comes to doctors using social media, although a 2020 study from George Washington University found that a doctor’s social media presence is very likely to impact their relationship with patients — especially when it comes to trust.

“Respondents to the survey indicated they would have less trust in their physician if they posted racist comments, wrote a disrespectful patient narrative, appeared intoxicated in a photo or used profanity on social media,” the report found.

Grawe has since made her social media accounts private. Without her license, she will never be allowed to practice medicine in the state of Ohio again.

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