Dr. Katharine Roxanne Grawe, better known as “Dr. Roxy,” has had her medical license permanently revoked by the Ohio State Medical Board for injuring patients while live-streaming surgical procedures on TikTok.
The state’s attorney noted that Dr. Roxy portrayed major surgeries with potentially life-altering consequences as light-hearted events, arguing that her actions were wildly inappropriate.
Dr. Grawe requested that the board consider the accusations with an open mind, sharing the negative impact they’ve had on her personal life, with her husband leaving her and her children getting attacked at school.
She said that her intent was to break down barriers between medical practitioners and patients, but she now realizes that her unprofessional approach fell short of the medical board’s standards and that her actions might have offended her colleagues and patients.
Jonathan B. Feibel, the medical board VP, criticized Dr. Grawe for recklessness.
Prior to her license suspension, the board secretary had cautioned her multiple times about maintaining patient privacy on social media and urged her to undertake remedial education courses regardings ethics and plastic surgery complications.
Even so, she continued to live broadcast her medical procedures.
Feibel noted that it was unacceptable for Grawe to put patients in danger for the sake of social media popularity, claiming that her online persona seemed more important to her than the lives of her patients.
As a result, her medical license was suspended on November 18.
The board pointed to three patients who reported complications following surgeries at her practice, Roxy Plastic Surgery.
One patient underwent a skin-tightening procedure, a Brazilian butt lift, and liposuction. However, a few days later, she was rushed to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy, a condition caused by a damaged liver failing to remove toxins from the blood.
Doctors also discovered a serious bacterial infection and a perforated bowel, which required an extended hospital stay with skin grafting, open abdomen treatments, and multiple debridements.
Grawe had live-streamed part of her liposuction procedure on social media.
Another patient experienced severe abdomen damage, which some experts said would affect her for the rest of her life.
With blatant disregard for patient safety and numerous negative patient outcomes, the board believes Grawe should not be allowed to practice medicine again.
One of Grawe’s former patients, Mary Jenkins, was also in attendance at the medical board’s meeting.
Jenkins won a lawsuit against Grawe in 2016 for a botched breast reconstruction surgery, and while her case was not part of the recent complaints, she expressed relief after witnessing the board’s decision.
Jenkins noted that a flap from her abdomen was used to reconstruct her right breast, but it died due to blood congestion. As a result, she had to go through extensive wound therapy and a four-month nursing facility stay.
Jenkins was awarded $358,000 by the jury, and after enduring the pain and trauma for over a decade, she finally felt a sense of closure.
