Florida surgeons, Board of Medicine at odds over new Brazilian butt lift restrictions

A group of Florida plastic surgeons is asking an appeals court to block emergency restrictions recently put into place by the Florida Board of Medicine. The restrictions are for gluteal fat grafting, also known as Brazilian butt lifts.

The restrictions would limit a surgeon to performing three of these procedures a day and require the use of an ultrasound machine to conduct the surgery. The Board of Medicine says that Florida has become a popular spot for this procedure, with patients flying in from all over the country just to have the surgery. The board states there have been 10 deaths in the past 3 years in patients undergoing this procedure, and not enough has been done to make the surgery safer.

The board says that limiting surgeons to three gluteal fat grafts a day would cut down on physician fatigue, hopefully leading to fewer errors. However, the surgeons who filed the court appeal argue that the restrictions do not limit them to performing other procedures the same day, so the fatigue claim is arbitrary.

The board of medicine is requiring ultrasound be used to help guide the instruments used to inject the fat into the patient. In its argument against using ultrasounds, the surgeons state that plastic surgeons are not trained to use this equipment, so they would need additional training and equipment to do so.