# Is my sister in-law being extorted by plastic surgeon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272 "2011-07-08T03:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/21 "2011-07-08T18:22:34Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > So she tested positive for 2nd hand smoke 2 weeks ago. > > They advise her to avoid smoke (which is probably also in various paperwork/instructions that she’d already been given and signed) > > She then goes to a bar where people smoke. > > Tests postitive again for 2nd hand smoke, and is baffled that this is a problem? > > Sounds to me like your sister just learned a $3,000 lesson about following instructions. I agree with this. It is certainly nothing new in the medical field that patients pay when they miss appointments (or can’t have a procedure done because they didn’t follow instructions), and it wasn’t the anesthesiologist’s fault that the surgery couldn’t be done. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/22 "2011-07-08T18:36:24Z")
I wouldn’t call it BS, but the claim that “Secondhand smoke is responsible for 50 percent of complications in patients who experience problems following surgery” seems unverifiable. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true, though. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/23 "2011-07-08T18:40:39Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I wouldn’t call it BS, but the claim that “Secondhand smoke is responsible for 50 percent of complications in patients who experience problems following surgery” seems unverifiable. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were true, though. Just off the top of my head, one could verify it by studying the rate of complications in matched patients whose chief difference is exposure to secondhand smoke. If the complication rate in the exposed group is significantly higher, one could posit that the difference in the complication rate is due to the smoke exposure, and thus figure out overall what percentage of complications is caused by secondhand smoke. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/24 "2011-07-08T18:49:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > It is certainly nothing new in the medical field that patients pay when they miss appointments (or can’t have a procedure done because they didn’t follow instructions), and it wasn’t the anesthesiologist’s fault that the surgery couldn’t be done. I agree. _However_, if I as a patient show up for my surgery and the surgeon is unable to perform that day (emergency, illness, etc) shouldn’t I be reimbursed for time missed from work? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/25 "2011-07-08T19:05:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I agree. _However_, if I as a patient show up for my surgery and the surgeon is unable to perform that day (emergency, illness, etc) shouldn’t I be reimbursed for time missed from work? If that was a clause written into the contract you signed than probably, yes. It’s not however, typically in contract. Now I’m wondering what would happen if I had an elective surgery scheduled, and I had my lawyer draft in such a rider and insisted that the surgeon executed their copy too. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/26 "2011-07-08T19:46:59Z")
How much secondhand smoke counts as “exposure” to secondhand smoke? Do you have to be breathing it in deeply for a certain amount of time? Are you “exposed” if you just walk by somebody smoking on the street and get a whiff? What if you’re in a car and the driver’s smoking? What if you open the window? Should these questions go in a separate thread? ---
**Author:** ![JHE1967](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JHE1967](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHE1967)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/27 "2011-07-09T02:13:24Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > So she tested positive for 2nd hand smoke 2 weeks ago. > > They advise her to avoid smoke (which is probably also in various paperwork/instructions that she’d already been given and signed) > > She then goes to a bar where people smoke. > > Tests postitive again for 2nd hand smoke, and is baffled that this is a problem? I agree she clearly screwed up. No doubt she is at fault for not following instructions. I just thought the doctor’s office claim that if she does not reschedule the operation she will not get the 8K deposit (90% of surgery cost) was odd. I don’t see how they can keep her 8K when no procedure was done. The charge for the anesthesiologist seems high (3K) but I understand it–I don’t see where the doctor keeps the remaining 5K she has already paid though. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/28 "2011-07-09T02:24:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That sounds like pure BS. > > IANAL, but I’ve often heard that the law abhors a default. If the costs weren’t incurred, she should get her money back. Except it sounds like costs were incurred if the anesthesiologist was an outside contractor (as opposed to someone onstaff). > [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > If that was a clause written into the contract you signed than probably, yes. It’s not however, typically in contract. Now I’m wondering what would happen if I had an elective surgery scheduled, and I had my lawyer draft in such a rider and insisted that the surgeon executed their copy too. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/29 "2011-07-09T02:24:18Z")
> [@JHE1967](#): > > I agree she clearly screwed up. No doubt she is at fault for not following instructions. I just thought the doctor’s office claim that if she does not reschedule the operation she will not get the 8K deposit (90% of surgery cost) was odd. I don’t see how they can keep her 8K when no procedure was done. The charge for the anesthesiologist seems high (3K) but I understand it–I don’t see where the doctor keeps the remaining 5K she has already paid though. Same reason as the anesthetist - they couldn’t schedule another surgery in there with no notice so the surgeon lost the opportunity to earn a living because your SiL couldn’t follow instructions. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/30 "2011-07-10T17:46:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I agree. _However_, if I as a patient show up for my surgery and the surgeon is unable to perform that day (emergency, illness, etc) shouldn’t I be reimbursed for time missed from work? You’ve probably noticed that respect in healthcare is a one-way street - we are to respect the healthcare workers and their time, but they make little effort to respect ours. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272/31 "2011-07-10T17:59:51Z")
She’s paying for the surgery, they should have done it or refunded the money. In the unlikely event that a small amount of second-hand smoke could affect healing, she could sign a waiver if she tested positive for that. It’s a pure money-making scheme. I’ll be off for a cigarette now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-my-sister-in-law-being-extorted-by-plastic-surgeon/588272.md?page=1)