Who's Really Botching Surgeries?

by Barb Tate

Making the decision to undergo plastic surgery is a serious endeavor. Thorough planning and research should always be high priorities for anyone interested in getting liposuction, breast augmentation, facelifts, or any surgery. A frightening truth, however, is that surgeries can fail. Failed, or botched-surgeries can bring permanent damage to patients and even have fatal consequences. Perhaps the scariest thing to realize is that botched surgeries aren’t just performed by internet scam artists trying to make extra money with silicone implants in a hotel room. Many botched surgeries are administered by actual surgeons.

State boards regulate who is able to obtain a license to practice medicine, but there are little to no restrictions keeping doctors from performing procedures that are beyond their specialties, education, and training. A board-certified plastic surgeon can perform practically any surgery that they want— however unqualified they may be. Legally, a plastic surgeon with proper training and education in performing breast implants can perform a hip replacement or a hysterectomy. Just because they are legally able to do so, never means that they should. These risky procedures have become a kind of ‘side menu’ for many doctors: a little liposuction on the side, a breast augmentation here and there.

WHY DO THEY DO IT?

Breast augmentation by an eye doctor. Facelifts by a gynecologist. Laser liposuction from an emergency medicine physician. Doctors of all types are performing these treatments without the proper credentials. Why, you ask? In the simplest terms, they are motivated by money. Cosmetic surgeries do not fall underneath the umbrella of health insurance. All procedures require full payments: an enticing venture for immoral physicians looking to make more money on the side.

HOW CAN THESE PROCEDURES HAPPEN IN HOSPITALS?

These procedures are very rarely performed in actual hospitals. Surgeons are able to establish their own independently operated cosmetic surgery centers, free of hospital regulations that permit doctors from stepping beyond their field and expertise. In their own centers, surgeons are able to practice these procedures under a very thin set of rules: a perfect breeding ground for botched surgeries.

Although there are a number of doctors that might be skilled enough to perform Lasik eye surgery and breast augmentation, there are just as many that should never attempt to put patients’ well-being in danger. Even if the surgeon claims that they are highly skilled in liposuction treatment and ocular surgeries, for example, they should not administer either procedure without being properly certified in the respective field. Money-driven, unqualified surgeons and uninformed patients is a very dangerous combination.

If you are interested in cosmetic surgery, it is imperative that you find a doctor that is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. This is the only board that is fully recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. Please Contact Us at the Plastic Surgery Portal to help you find a doctor in your region that is certified in the procedure that you want. The Plastic Surgery portal will never refer any doctor that is not properly certified in the procedure that you want.