Patients seeking bargain pricing for their plastic surgery have been going to Strax Rejuvenation for years as the cheapest option in town. Strax commonly advertises very low prices to lure patients for their procedures. Recently, patients are learning that the lowest price is often not the best value. There has been another death at Strax Rejuvenation. That makes 5 known deaths in less than three years.
Last Thursday I received information about a patient that died while undergoing a procedure at Strax Rejuvenation. The patient went to Strax for fat transfer to the buttocks. During the procedure her blood oxygen levels began to drop and she could not be resuscitated. She died in the operating room at Strax Rejuvenation.
I have written about the deaths at Strax Rejuvenation in the past:
In that post I analyzed recent deaths at Strax and calculated their mortality rate. Based upon my review, giving Strax Rejuvenation a huge benefit of the doubt, their mortality rate is alarmingly high. In fact, it was seven times higher than a published acceptable rate from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. When last Thursday’s tragedy is added to the analysis the numbers get much worse.
My original review of the Strax Rejuvenation death rate was based upon 4 deaths in two years time. That was less than one year ago. Let’s look at an analysis that includes this most recent death. Strax Rejuvenation currently has 12 doctors on staff. Only 10 perform aesthetic procedures. We could assume that every one of them operates every day of the week, never takes a vacation, and never sees patients for consultations nor follow up visits. Clearly that is not the case, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Also assume that each doctor performs 4 procedures everyday. That would calculate to 31,200 procedures in a three year period. If that were true the death rate at Strax Rejuvenation would be 1 in 6240 cases. But it’s actually worse than that.
Strax Rejuvenation has six operating rooms. It would not be possible for all 10 surgeons to perform procedures all day, everyday. Only six cases can go on at the same time. So now let’s assume that each of the six operating rooms are fully occupied 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, for three years. That would add up to a total of about 19,000 cases which would make the death rate at Strax Rejuvenation 1 in 3800 cases. That’s more than THIRTEEN TIMES the mortality rate published by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).
If we use Strax Rejuvenation’s own numbers it is even more grave. They boast having performed 29,000 procedures. Strax was founded in 2004 which gives it an eight year history. If the cases are evenly distributed over the eight years that would come out to just under 11,000 cases in three years. That means the death rate at Strax Rejuvenation over the last three years using their own numbers is 1 in 2175 cases. That is shockingly over TWENTY THREE TIMES the published mortality rate. When compared to having your procedure performed by a board certified plastic surgeon in their own private practice, having surgery at Strax Rejuvenation sure does seem like making a riskier choice to me. Maybe not quite like Russian roulette, but definitely not the bargain most patients think they are getting.
