Bill Aims to Protect Plastic Surgery Patients
Legislation aimed at protecting cosmetic surgery patients was proposed Thursday by the Medical Board of California and a Los Angeles lawmaker.
Prompted in part by the 1997 post-liposuction death of Judy Fernandez of La Habra, the measure would tighten restrictions on doctors who perform plastic surgery in their offices, often without adequate training or precautions, critics say.
“Plastic surgery has been treated like a simple operation that requires limited safeguards,” said Assemblyman Martin Gallegos (D-Baldwin Park). “The reality is these are very real surgical procedures that can have dire consequences.”
Board-certified plastic surgeon W. Earle Matory Jr. and anesthesiologist Robert K. Hoo had their licenses revoked by the Medical Board in 1997 after being found grossly negligent in the death of Fernandez, 44.
She died after 10 1/2 hours of liposuction procedures. The board found that the doctors failed to respond to early indications that the surgery was going sour.
Gallegos, chairman of the Assembly Health Committee, announced the bill at a meeting of the Medical Board plastic surgery committee held in Santa Ana.
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