Newly-signed Florida legislation makes it illegal for doctors to perform liposuction in unlicensed locations. The new law, which takes effect on January 3, 2013, is in response to the liposuction-related deaths of 14 Florida residents in the past decade.

According to the law, most liposuction procedures must be done in a hospital or surgery center that is inspected by the state on a yearly basis. In addition, any doctor who removes more than two pounds of fat during liposuction must perform the surgery in regulated offices. Such offices are equipped with life-saving equipment, and doctors who practice there must have at least basic life-support training. 

The Florida medical community, the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Board of Medicine all backed the new law.

An article in the Sun Sentinel stated that another consequence of the new legislation will be to drive up the cost of bargain-basement  liposuction.

“The new Florida law promotes patient safety which is always a good thing,” says Plastic Surgery Practice legal advisor Michael J. Sacopulos, JD, a partner with Sacopulos, Johnson & Sacopulos in Terre Haute, Indiana. “It puts an impediment in the way of marginal practitioners [and] anything that increases the public’s confidence in cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures should be whole heartedly supported by the profession,” he says. “I think the Florida law does this, and I look to see other states join in on this type of legislation. “

 [Source: Sun Sentinel]