Is performing elective plastic surgery ethical?

Great Debates
21

[QUOTE=Chief Pedant]
It’s unethical to butt into the personal lives and choices of any two consenting adults, even if one is a doctor and one is a patient.

The doctor has an ethical duty to present the risks, to be properly qualified so as to minimize them, and to make an appropriate judgment that the patient is able to process that information.

I’ve never quite understood why plastic surgery tends to raise any hackles on the part of those not involved in the contractural relationship. (Jealousy that not everyone has to play the cards mother nature dealt them? )There seems to be an implied theory in the OP that it might be construed as unethical to expose another individual to an unnecessary risk when the precipitating reason is their personal pleasure (and perhaps when one party is being compensated).

Under that notion it’s unethical for a bungee jump operator to be in business.
[/QUOTE]

Does anybody know if plastic surgery patients sign some type of release form (as you would if you were about to bungee jump)?

And do the surgeons really discuss the risks or just blast through them as a formalilty (like the really fast talk at the end of a car commercial).

I think maybe I would have never posted this topic if plastic surgeons were called something else other than doctor - like “Flesh Sculptor” or something. I guess I’m fighting my perception that it is always a doctor’s job to promote your health, and that some kinds of elective plastic surgery may actually do the opposite.

22

[QUOTE=blinkingblinking]
A person who thinks they will be mentally healthier throigh cosmetic surgery already has a mental problem. That is why the surgery will not help.
[/QUOTE]

I hear all too frequently words like “She’ll have so much more self-esteem with larger breasts”. I guess that is great if you really can buy self-esteem that way.:dubious:

23

[QUOTE=AHoosierMama]
Does anybody know if plastic surgery patients sign some type of release form (as you would if you were about to bungee jump)?
[/quote]

As I remember – I had breast reduction done 9 years ago – I signed piles of papers the same as you would before any surgery. It’s kinda scary signing a paper that says “There is a small chance of death,” but there ya go.

Mine did, and if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have let him get near me. I knew the various things that could happen and chose to go ahead anyway. No surgery of any kind is guaranteed, even if things normally go well. Horrible, horrible things could happen pretty much anytime surgery is performed. Any doctor who won’t talk about those possiblities (even as remote possibilities, as in, “I haven’t had a patient that this happened to, but it can happen and you should know”) ought to have their licences yanked.

24

[QUOTE=AHoosierMama]
I think maybe I would have never posted this topic if plastic surgeons were called something else other than doctor - like “Flesh Sculptor” or something. I guess I’m fighting my perception that it is always a doctor’s job to promote your health, and that some kinds of elective plastic surgery may actually do the opposite.
[/QUOTE]

My husband had plastic surgery on his wrist after he had a non-healing wound that required a skin graft. So, no. Plastic surgeons shouldn’t be called something other than doctor.

25

just my 2 cents, but i think ethics is a combination of the patient,the surgery,and the dr. I’ve seen some news stories here (in texas) about people who are addicted to surgery. Some dr’s will operate on them for the $$, some will turn them away.

from my own experience,the surgery should enhance ones life moreso than their self esteem. I had a thoracic sympathectomy for excessive sweat. My dr did not warn me of severe side effects outside heart problems (which “didnt matter because i am not an athlete”) and Horners syndrome (which the dr’s say has"never happened with their expertise")

these statements have been repeated by other dr’s to their patients in the forum I belong to.

that was 2002. by 2004 I was applying for social security disability because of the damage done during/by this OP. my brachial plexus injury (which my dr said NEVER happened because he was skilled) happened because my arms were positioned the wrong angle during surgery. the thyroid is denerved by this surgery. many of us have gained a lot of weight. Im now on thyroid pills. Im miserable.

and the clencher*…we are told “if you do not like the outcome, you can have a reversal” (which costs upwards of 65,000$) so the dr’s get paid twice. Also, in an attempt to market the sympathectomy…we are not told there are other options for excessive sweat. (iontophoresis, prescription pills and anti-persperants)

for me, the sweat-issue was one of annoyance more than shame. I’m female, sew a lot of my own clothes…and was sick of always having paper towels taped to my armpits.

some in my forum are in radio/tv/production and therefore cannot touch equipment with sweaty palms.

maybe a police officer has sweaty feet and cant run after a criminal without slipping inside his shoes.

now, our problems are horribly worse than before. thoracic sympathectmies have been banned in Sweden and partially in Taiwan (no minor may have the OP)
surgery has been used in past to treat social phobias (so its a mini psycho-surgery) we were not informed of that either.

bottom line (imo) all humans have potential to be evil. we’ve seen stories on cops who sell drugs, and priests/teachers who molest children, the same should apply to dr’s.
(BTW–i applaud AHoosierMama’s post on the oath. I didnt know that either! I thought oath was same all over the US.)

anyone who is interested can read more here-

http://p069.ezboard.com/betsandreversals

thanks for reading my post :slight_smile:

alexandra

26

[QUOTE=aruvqan]
Hm, I personally think that I could have done without bleeding off and on for the last 20+ freaking years. I had my tubes tied. I dont see why I couldn’t have had a hysterectomy so I wouldn’t have monthly labor pain and the lovely experience of essentially bleeding out along with it.

As long as I have ovaries for the hormones, who cares if I have a stupid little flesh pouch with aboslutely NO use other than tormenting me monthly with agony and blood.
[/QUOTE]

I feel the same way about my uterus. I don’t like it. It’s not doing anything for me since I won’t be having any more children. My periods are excruciatingly painful and horribly lifestyle-limiting. So, why is it easier for me to undergo multiple elective surgeries to “enhance” my outward appearance but I have to struggle to find a doctor who will knock me out and remove my womb?

My rhetorical question to the medical community: Why is it “ethical” for a doctor to shave cartilage and bone off the bridge of someone’s nose or stuff a bag of saline into someone’s chest or inject botulism into a wrinkle merely because someone asks for and is willing to pay for it, but it’s somehow “unethical” for another doctor to consent to perform the kind of surgery I want at my request knowing I am willing to pay for it?

27

What about lasik surgery? This performs the cosmetic function of the individual not having to wear glasses–yet also provides the medical benefit of improved sight. It is considered elective (I believe) because it’s not debilitating to have to wear glasses.

I’ve thought about this one many times because while I’d like improved sight, I’m not willing to risk permanent damage to my eyes to correct something I can correct non-surgically.

And Alexandra, I’m so sorry you’ve had such a horrific experience. I hope you find relief, compensation and peace.

28

thank you Cherry for the kind words, unfortunately I cannot get $$ compensation due to time limit on laws :frowning:

it does help me when people listen tho, because they can tell others and spread the word. I wish more info had been online at the time i had the OP…I’d never gone thru with it otherwise.

thanks again :slight_smile:

29

[QUOTE=cruel butterfly]
I feel the same way about my uterus. I don’t like it. It’s not doing anything for me since I won’t be having any more children. My periods are excruciatingly painful and horribly lifestyle-limiting. So, why is it easier for me to undergo multiple elective surgeries to “enhance” my outward appearance but I have to struggle to find a doctor who will knock me out and remove my womb?

My rhetorical question to the medical community: Why is it “ethical” for a doctor to shave cartilage and bone off the bridge of someone’s nose or stuff a bag of saline into someone’s chest or inject botulism into a wrinkle merely because someone asks for and is willing to pay for it, but it’s somehow “unethical” for another doctor to consent to perform the kind of surgery I want at my request knowing I am willing to pay for it?
[/QUOTE]

My guess is that it’s b/c removing the uterus permanently removes any chance of you bearing a child. Giving you fake boobs does not. People get very freaky about reproduction–witness the zillions of people willing to go through IVF rather than adopt, and the zillions of men who refuse to get vasectomies even though they are quite insistent that they don’t want any more children. Doctors aren’t immune to that hysteria (no pun intended) and are also probably sensitive to the fact that many people change their minds on the subject later (witness, again, the many men who try to get their vasectomies reversed).

Not that you’re wrong (I know several women who would gladly do the same thing), but it’s a slightly more serious–and less reversible–matter than a boob job.

30

[QUOTE=toadspittle]
<snip>…the zillions of men who refuse to get vasectomies even though they are quite insistent that they don’t want any more children.
[/QUOTE]

I think that has more to do with men and their freakish reactions to the thought of anyone doing any snipping in the general region of their “region” than it has to do with holding on to the possibility of siring more offspring.

31

Hope so. Because here in Minnesota we’re about to start taxing it.

Bill to extend Minnesota sales tax to cosmetic surgery and appearance-enhancing procedures