Fla. law to make liposuction safer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A proposed law in Florida would make liposuction procedures safer by requiring them to be done in surgery offices inspected by the state, lawmakers said.

The legislation was sparked by the deaths of four South Florida women in their 30s during liposuction procedures in unregulated physicians' offices, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Monday.

"The way liposuction is being done at some of these surgery offices is simply not safe," Dr. Russell Sassani, owner of a licensed outpatient surgery center in Plantation, said. "Making these places get certified and inspected … is a great idea."

In addition to state inspections of surgery offices, under the proposed law doctors would have to have received life-support training to be qualified to perform the procedures.

Bill sponsors acknowledged liposuction prices could increase at some cosmetic surgery centers because of the law's requirements but said it was a small price to pay for patient safety.

"It's paying a little more versus living to talk about it," said Democratic state Sen. Eleanor Sobel of Hollywood, a sponsor of the bill.