Six months after the mother of Kanye West, Dr. Donda West, died following liposuction and breast implant surgery, the reverberations of the tragedy continue to be felt. Now lawmakers and physicians are urging greater protections for patients undergoing cosmetic surgery.
Across the country, such surgeries are increasingly done outside hospital settings in outpatient clinics, where a doctor can avoid the rigorous review that, say, a heart surgeon would face at a traditional hospital.
Those lobbying for greater surveillance say attempts to regulate the fast-growing industry have faltered.
"These [clinics] are not hospitals. You have to raise the standards," said state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development.
A coroner's report cited West's heart disease and clogged coronary arteries as a factor in her death. According to the coroner, there was no evidence that her death was caused by a mistake in surgery.
West, who was 5 feet 2 and weighed 188 pounds, had part of her right breast removed, both breasts enlarged and her abdominal muscles tightened.
She had significant liposuction as well as a "belt lipectomy," which excises fat around the abdominal area and tightens the surrounding skin.
West was sent home after her 5 1/2 -hour surgery.
She was not hooked up to medical equipment to monitor her recovery, something experts now say should have been required, given her extensive surgery and her pre-existing heart disease.
Ridley-Thomas' legislation, known as SB 1454, would require that outpatient facilities be inspected at least once every three years.
There now is no state requirement for how often the facilities must be inspected.
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