I am very pleased to inform our readers of an article recently published in Plastic Surgery News. Plastic Surgery News is the monthly news publication of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The piece, called "Over-the-Top Cosmetic Surgery Ads, Web Pages Draw Ethics Complaints" drives home many of the points I have been attempting to draw attention to on this site and others...:
- Extreme claims ("best plastic surgeon", "Orlando's Premier Aesthetics Provider") irresponsibly endanger the public and harm a surgeon's reputation in the long run
- These extreme claims are violations of the Society's Code of Ethics
- According to the ASPS, non-plastic surgeons (e.g the gynecologists, family practitioners, ER doctors, and eye doctors attempting plastic surgery procedures) are much more prone to making irresponsible claims in their advertising because they are not held to the high ethical standard those of us Certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery are, and because as they are not Board Certified Plastic Surgeons, I guess they must feel they have to say something to distinguish themselves...
- Saying that someone else was responsible for an ad making irresponsible or unethical claims and that this was done without the knowledge of the doctor is like saying "the dog ate my homework".
- Regular readers will remember this was an issue after my original post, in which I drew attention to the fact that Elase Med Spas was running ads suggesting that the photos of the outstanding (and in my opinion unusually positive)outcomes shown were obtained after treatments at Elase Med Spas.
- The reality was that most of the photos shown were from the marketing materials used by the sales representatives of the machines in question- and the procedures were NOT performed by Elase's doctors.
- One of the doctor's at Elase called me after the post, to complain that he had no knowledge of the ad and that the businessman who owns Elase was solely responsible- and so he (the surgeon) did not feel responsible for its deceptive content...
- The American Society of Plastic Surgeons does not agree- saying, "You (the plastic surgeon) and only you are responsible for your advertising".
- This needs to be the case- otherwise there would be no limit to the ethical rule breaking irresponsible practitioners engaged in.
- I could just start a business, with a friend or family member at the helm, let them make whatever outlandish or irresponsible claims they wanted about my services in order to attract patients, and then defend myself by saying that the ads were placed without my knowledge and therefore I did not violate my Code of Ethics to my Society.
I could not be happier that The Florida Board of Medicine and The American Society of Plastic Surgeons are beginning to take these problems more seriously. I think that only by bringing these issues to the public's attention (and possibly to the attention of legislators) will the rate of public injury and fatality decline.
Here's the bottom line:
- Only surgeons certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery can claim the education and intensive training we receive over a minimum of 6 years.
- There is no short cut to this training and experience... the idea that a few days, weeks, or even months of training in liposuction makes you able to deliver the same level of safety or quality as an American Board of Plastic Surgery certified surgeon is impossible.
- It is NOT enough to ask "are you board certified?"- you must ask which board certified them to know if their plastic surgery training was legitimate.
- ALL plastic surgery is REAL surgery, with REAL RISKS. Just because there is an eye doctor offering to do liposuction on you (and believe me, the machine he is using doesn't matter) in his office under local anesthesia doesn't mean it is in your best interests.
- Remember- ALWAYS ASK: "do you have permission to do this operation in a local hospital?"- and then verify with the hospital's credentials office. If your doctor does not have permission to do the procedure they are suggesting for you in a hospital, go elsewhere.
- If you have seen a doctor who engages in these shady tactics to lure patients into their practice, ask yourself what this behavior says about them... and realize that all surgery (including lipopsuction) involves a series of decisions.... Do you think someone who engages in this kind of behavior to attract patients can be trusted with your safety and happiness? I don't.
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