Four public checks cover most of what you can verify before a consultation: certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), the only plastic surgery board among the 24 boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS); a current medical license and any disciplinary orders, through LLR in South Carolina; accreditation of the place where you will be operated on; and hospital privileges for the same procedure. Each can be checked on a public website or by phone. A BBL needs further questions, because a 2018 advisory from three plastic surgery societies put its death rate at about 1 in 3,000.
- ABMS member boards
- 24ABMS, 2026
- ABPS certificate term
- 10 yearscertificates since 1995, ABPS
- SC office accreditation
- Within year oneReg. 81-96, amended 2012
- BBL mortality estimates
- 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 14,9522018 advisory; 2019 survey
Step 1: board certification
ABPS certification is voluntary. It means the surgeon completed the required training and passed written and oral examinations covering all plastic surgery procedures. The training is at least 3 years of plastic surgery after general surgery or another accepted surgical residency (an Independent program) or 6 years in an Integrated program. Certificates issued since 1995 last 10 years, renewal depends on continuous certification, and an active, unrestricted license is required. The ABPS public lookup searches by name and state; where a state board has acted against a diplomate, the status column shows “See FSMB.”
ABMS’s 24 member boards certify physicians in 38 specialties and 90 subspecialties, and ABPS is one of them. For other boards, ABMS and ABPS both point patients to Certification Matters (“Is Your Doctor Certified?”).
What “board-certified cosmetic surgeon” means
The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery (ABCS) certifies physicians in cosmetic surgery. In its own words, it “has never applied for membership” in ABMS, and it says it cannot, because there is no ACGME-recognized residency in cosmetic surgery, so its training is mainly post-residency. The ABCS also says “Cosmetic surgeon is a generic term and can be used by any physician regardless of training,” and that “board certified cosmetic surgeon” is its registered trademark, for its diplomates only. The Aesthetic Society, a plastic surgery organization, says ABPS is the only ABMS-recognized board that certifies in plastic surgery.
The practical step is the same either way: ask which board certified the surgeon, in which specialty, and check that board’s own lookup. ASPS’s “do your homework” message adds checking ASPS membership.
Step 2: the South Carolina license and board orders
- License. The SC LLR licensee lookup is updated nightly from the licensing and enforcement database and searches by name, license number, city and specialty, with “PS. Plastic Surgery” as an option (facial plastic surgery is a separate code). Each search asks you to complete a reCAPTCHA. The Board of Medical Examiners’ phone is (803) 896-4500.
- Discipline. The Board’s Public Board Orders list each order by name, date, license type and number, with a link to the order; the latest was dated August 11, 2026 when we checked.
- Complaints. Under SC Code 40-47-190(B), a formal complaint and the answer become open to public inspection ten days after the answer, and a license surrendered during an investigation is public (40-47-150).
Outside South Carolina, use your state’s medical board; ABPS also points to the FSMB directory.
Step 3: the facility
For anything beyond local anesthesia or mild oral sedation, ASPS requires members to use a facility accredited by AAAASF, AAAHC or The Joint Commission, certified by Medicare, or state-licensed. It cites mortality below 1 in 57,000 in accredited facilities, with no date or study.
| Accreditor | How to check, October 2, 2026 |
|---|---|
| QUAD A (formerly AAAASF) | Public directory offline during an upgrade; verify by email or at 847-775-1970. Accredited facilities must display the certificate |
| AAAHC | Public search by facility type (office-based surgery, ASC) and state; at most 100 results, and it warns it can miss accredited organizations |
| The Joint Commission | Runs an office-based surgery program (2026 survey guide); its public lookup was not reachable for us |
South Carolina’s office rule. Regulation 81-96 (2007, amended 2012) covers office surgery under minimal or moderate IV, IM or rectal sedation (Level II) or deep sedation, general anesthesia or a major nerve block (Level III). The level “is dependent only on the level of sedation/analgesia administered,” not the procedure. The physician must register with the Board, the office must be accredited within its first year, deaths and emergency transfers must be reported within three business days, and there must be a hospital transfer protocol. Hospitals and DHEC-licensed facilities are outside the rule.
Liposuction limits. The Board’s 2002 liposuction parameters, which are guidance and not a regulation, allow at most 3,000 cc of supernatant fat per case in Level 1 offices and 4,000 cc in Level 2, and up to 55 mg/kg of lidocaine at any level. The ASPS practice advisory (2003) sets lidocaine at 35 mg/kg and sends cases over 5,000 cc of total aspirate, fat plus fluid, to a hospital or accredited facility with overnight monitoring. The two measure volume differently, so the numbers do not compare directly.
Step 4: hospital privileges
A surgeon with hospital privileges for a procedure has been vetted by that hospital’s committees, an ASPS member blog notes. South Carolina requires Level III office surgeons to hold privileges for the same procedure or ABMS or AOA board certification or eligibility. For BBL, the 2022 joint statement of ASPS, its foundation, The Aesthetic Society and ASERF says office surgery should be done only by surgeons with privileges for it at a licensed surgery center or hospital.
Questions to ask at a consultation
- Which board certified you, in what specialty, and when does the certificate renew?
- Where will the operation be, who accredits that facility, and at what level of sedation?
- Which hospital gives you privileges for this procedure, and where would I be transferred in an emergency?
- How much fat will you remove, and how much lidocaine will you use?
- If you combine procedures, what does that do to my risk? In CosmetAssure registry data, combined procedures were the strongest predictor of major complications after liposuction (relative risk 4.81), and blood clots were more common after combined procedures (0.20% against 0.04%).
- Who covers the cost if there is a complication, and are your patients enrolled in complication insurance?
BBL: the extra checks
The January 2018 advisory found fat in or beneath the gluteal muscle in every autopsied BBL death, recommended injecting fat only into the layer under the skin, and said the risk of death should be discussed with every patient. Estimates of that risk differ by source:
| Estimate | Source |
|---|---|
| About 1 in 3,000 | Multi-society Task Force advisory, January 2018 |
| 1 in 2,351 to 1 in 6,241 | Pazmiño and Garcia (2023), restating the 2017 ASERF survey |
| 1 in 3,448 in 2017, falling to 1 in 14,952 in 2019 | Rios and Gupta (2020), surgeon survey |
| 1 in 14,921 in 2019 | Pazmiño and Garcia, restating the same survey |
These are survey estimates. The 2017 ASERF survey (Mofid) drew 692 responding surgeons reporting 198,857 cases, 32 deaths and 103 nonfatal fat emboli over their careers. The 2022 Practice Advisory added ultrasound documentation of cannula position and a limit of 3 BBLs per surgeon per day. A study of South Florida medical examiner data (Pazmiño and Garcia, 2023) counted 25 BBL fat-embolism deaths from 2010 to 2022, 14 of them after the 2018 guidance, and the 2022 joint statement says deaths occur “from poorly regulated strip mall clinics to accredited surgical centers.” We found no South Carolina rule specific to BBL. Prices are on BBL cost.
About our surgeon finder
Our plastic surgeon finder is built from the federal NPI register, which lists clinicians by the specialty code they file and the city of their practice. The register does not record board certification, license discipline or the procedures a surgeon performs, so a listing tells you only that a provider is registered under a plastic surgery code. Run the checks above on any name. We do not recommend any surgeon or practice.
Frequently asked questions
What does board-certified plastic surgeon mean?
Usually certification by ABPS, the ABMS board for plastic surgery: the required residency, written and oral exams, an unrestricted license, and renewal every 10 years.
Is a board-certified cosmetic surgeon the same as a board-certified plastic surgeon?
They are different certifications. “Board certified cosmetic surgeon” is the ABCS’s trademark, and the ABCS says it is not an ABMS member board. Ask which board, and check it.
How do I look up a plastic surgeon’s license in South Carolina?
Use the SC LLR licensee lookup with the “PS. Plastic Surgery” specialty, and check the Board’s Public Board Orders for discipline.
How can I check whether a surgery center is accredited?
Search AAAHC’s public directory, ask QUAD A by email or phone while its directory is offline, and look for the displayed certificate.
How risky is a BBL?
Published death-rate estimates range from about 1 in 3,000 (2018) to 1 in 14,952 (2019 survey). Ask a board-certified plastic surgeon who has examined you about technique and ultrasound guidance.
Sources
- American Board of Plastic Surgery, public lookup; ABPS training requirements 2025-26
- ABMS: member boards, verify certification
- American Board of Cosmetic Surgery, cosmetic surgery FAQs, 2026; The Aesthetic Society, board certification
- ASPS: trust, accredited facilities, member blog on safety, liposuction practice advisory (2003)
- SC LLR: licensee lookup, Public Board Orders, office-based surgery registration, liposuction parameters (2002); SC Code Title 40 Chapter 47; SC Regulation 81-96
- Accreditors: QUAD A (AAAASF), QUAD A directory notice, 2026; AAAHC search; The Joint Commission, 2026 OBS survey guide
- BBL: 2018 advisory, 2022 joint statement, Mofid 2017, Rios and Gupta 2020, Del Vecchio and Kenkel 2022, Pazmiño and Garcia 2023
- Combined procedures: Kaoutzanis et al. 2017, Winocour et al. 2017
Figures retrieved October 2, 2026. Lookups, directories and rules change; check each one on the day you decide. Body Sculpting Masters is a publication, not a practice.
