CBS Atlanta News is reporting that a woman almost bled to death during a breast augmentation performed by an opthalmologist (an eye doctor). According to their accounts, the woman was awake during the procedure and experienced her 'surgeon' calling 911 for help. Luckily, a real plastic surgeon was on staff at the ER and helped save her life. See the disturbing news report here.
I have documented in numerous posts the scary trend of immoral doctors masquerading as real plastic surgeons. Unfortunately, in most states there is no law against physicians performing whatever procedure they choose, whether they are properly trained to perform that procedure or not. Because hospitals will not allow these phony plastic surgeons to perform plastic surgery in their facilities, they bypass this by building OR's in their own offices. In fact, there is no law against me, a board-certified plastic surgeon, performing a cataract surgery on someone in my office, even though I have no training in it.
If you are considering plastic surgery, make sure your surgeon is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. If he or she is not, then be very, very cautious. It's not enough for an eye doctor to have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before your surgery.
To read a post about an alleged horrible laser liposuction result from an ER doc just down the street from me, click here.
Thanks for reading.
Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.
We have a very similar problem in El Paso, Texas, with a "cosmetic" gynecologist performing breast augmentation in his office without any hospital privileges for the procedure and limited training.
ReplyDeleteI'm considering a surgeon who is certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. I'm wondering if you can please explain the difference between the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery? Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is atrocious! More and more stories like this are surfacing all the time, and it's critically important that everyone understands that a "cosmetic surgeon" is not necessarily a plastic surgeon. If you considering any kind of cosmetic surgery, please check on your surgeons' credentials and make triple-sure that the person you choose is really qualified to perform your procedure. Here's an interesting article on this topic for anyone interested: http://beautywithouttheblade.com/2010/04/11/is-your-plastic-surgeon-really-a-plastic-surgeonwhat-you-dont-know-can-definitely-hurt-you/
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