Fox 29 Investigates - Liposuction Investigation - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29

Her name is Becca and she's a 21 year old college student with a passion for working out.  She says she plays tennis, golf or runs almost daily. That focus on physical fitness has chiseled her to a body mass index, a measure of body fat based on height and weight, to 18.8.  Becca's BMI is considered within the normal range, but not by much. A BMI of 18.5 is deemed underweight.  Becca stands 5 feet 9 inches and weighs 127 pounds.

It's one of the reasons we were stunned when a worker at the Sono Bello Body Contour Centers of Wayne, Pennsylvania told Becca she was a "perfect candidate" for liposuction.  That worker is Jackie Shields an unlicensed patient care consultant with Sono Bello.  Sono Bello says Shields and other patient care consultants "do not require a license and do not make any kind of medical determination."

 
Shields told Becca she was a "perfect candidate" for liposuction inside Sono Bello offices. Fox 29 Investigates sent Becca into Sono Bello, along with a producer carrying a hidden camera, to determine what the company would say to a woman of Becca's stature seeking treatment.

 
Fox 29 producer, Kim Wagner, says Shields put on rubber gloves and pinched Becca's thighs.  When she finished, Wagner says that's when Shields referred to Becca as a "perfect candidate."  Wagner says she was surprised Becca was offered liposuction and "didn't believe they would do it."

Before leaving the office, Shields handed Becca a document listing inner and outer thighs as areas for liposuction with a total price of over $3,400.  That price included $995.00 for a surgical facility fee.  The document stated the price was good for 9 days.

Christina Schmidt, the practice manager in Wayne, told Fox 29 "all Jackie's doing is finding out if there are any contraindications and if they (patients) are able to meet with the surgeon."  When asked why Shields would use the term "perfect candidate", Schmidt indicated all patients later meet with a doctor.

Sono Bello declined to do an interview.  In a statement, the company wrote "A Sono Bello physician is the only person who can determine if a patient is a candidate for liposuction. This decision is made in the Philadelphia office as part of a complete, thorough examination by a board certified plastic surgeon."  Sono Bello wrote that "it is accredited by a nationally recognized organization which holds its medical practices to the highest level of quality and patient safety."  The company also said that "telling patients they were not candidates for treatment is a "routine occurrence."

We showed video of Becca inside Sono Bello being touched by Shields to Plastic Surgeon Joseph Serletti.  He's Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  Serletti told Fox 29 he "really couldn't see an area (of Becca's body) that would benefit from liposuction."

Serletti said "the decision to have surgery is made between the patient and the doctor after all the risks and benefits are talked about."  He says he's "never seen a surgery plan and payment schedule proposed with no doctor involved."  Serletti said "I would say that most of us would consider this unethical mostly because there is not a physician patient relationship that has occurred in the decision to have surgery."

Fox 29 asked Jackie Shields how a woman who is Becca's height and weight could be a "perfect candidate" for liposuction.  Shields said "someone who is a perfect candidate for Liposuction is a person with that small area of problem."