Channel 6 interview on awake breast augmentation

If you were up early this morning, you might have seen yours truly on channel 6, at 6:45.

I had been interviewed by WKMG's Jessica Sanchez on Monday. We discussed the controversy regarding "awake breast augmentation" surgery. We've discussed that topic at length here in this blog.

Unfortunately, only a very short bit of the TV interview was used. They didn't even mention one of the most important points: that many of the providers who use this technique are not board-certified plastic surgeons, don't have hospital privileges, and can't get proper anesthesiologists or CRNA's to work with them. Some don't even have any surgical residency training at all - they just took a weekend course or two.

It's a huge legal loophole. And it's bad news for Floridians.

Patient safety is my #1 priority. Having an anesthesiologist present, to monitor all the vital signs and make sure you are comfortable and breathing safely is a key part of patient safety. I think that skipping this, just to save a little money, is foolishly cutting corners in a dangerous way.

What are your thoughts? Please post a comment....
We'll post the link to the Channel 6 interview as soon as we can.

Dr. Fiala interviewed in "Cosmetic Surgery Times"

In the most recent edition of "Cosmetic Surgery Times", the second of a three part special on the obesity epidemic, metabolic syndrome and their potential treatment with various cosmetic surgery techniques features an short interview with....yours truly. (link)

I mentioned how a striking number of patients who present for liposuction and tummy tuck surgery turn out to have metabolic issues, such as high fasting blood sugars, actual diabetes, elevated cholesterol, and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. It should be something that all plastic surgeons remember to check for, when examining these patients.

We've talked about this topic previously at PSB, in an earlier post (here).

Apparently, Cosmetic Surgery Times reads "PSB - the Plastic Surgery Blog" too! :)