The plastic surgeons in Australia are certainly going great
lengths to highlight the dangers of traveling overseas for
cosmetic surgery. The Australian Society of Plastic
Surgeons commissioned a survey of its membership in April
2007, following concerns that local plastic surgeons have
to pick up the pieces when things go wrong for Australians
having cosmetic surgery in countries such as Thailand and
Malaysia. According to this survey, of the 68 plastic
surgeons who responded to the survey, 40 reported seeing
patients with complications or poor results, and 15
reported treating more than one botched case. 19 believed
that they were seeing more problems now than three years
ago.
While this survey particularly focuses on the surgeries
done overseas, it is vehemently silent on the state of
affairs in Australia. The fact of the matter is that the
industry in Australia is highly unregulated, and there are
now growing concerns that some surgeons lack both
qualifications and surgical experience. The legalisation of
medical advertising in 1994 in Australia has led to an
influx of non-surgeons advertising themselves as 'cosmetic
surgeons'. Some of them use smoke and mirrors to hide their
lack of specialist training, substituting bogus
qualifications instead.
In 2005 alone, 24 cosmetic-surgery complaints were heard by
Queensland Health Rights Commissioner, up from 22 in 2004,
and 13 in 2003. Negligence claims against plastic surgeons
jumped more than 70 per cent between 1995 and 2004. The
Health Care Complaints Commission received 87 complaints
about plastic and cosmetic surgery in the three years to
June 2006.
Claims against cosmetic surgeons have ballooned by 72%,
according to the 2005 figures from four insurers released
by the Medical Indemnity Industry Association of Australia
(MIIAA). The 72% increase, which occurred between two
three-year periods, from 1995-1998 to 2001-2004, is viewed
as an estimate. The MIIAA used three-year periods to reduce
the effects of a one-off spike in claims caused by tort law
reforms, but the spike has still skewed the data.
The 1999 New South Wales Ministerial Committee of Inquiry
into Cosmetic Surgery, the only investigation into the
industry thus far, found little reporting and monitoring of
complications arising from cosmetic surgery, limited
consumer safeguards and no independent, reliable
information available to consumers about the skills of
cosmetic surgery providers. More than eight years after the
NSW Cosmetic Surgery Inquiry, there are still no basic
education or training standards at state level. Legislation
does not prevent a doctor from setting up shop after a
weekend course in the Bahamas on liposuction. This lack of
regulation has allowed any registered medical doctor in NSW
to describe himself or herself as a cosmetic surgeon, even
with no formal surgical training beyond a basic medical
degree.
In these circumstances, how fair is it to lay the blame
solely on the overseas cosmetic surgery? The fact remains
that cosmetic surgery is a medical procedure and like any
other procedure, any patient considering cosmetic surgery
should think it through carefully first, consult GP, and
meet with a specialist plastic surgeon to discuss their
needs and treatment plan.
----------------------------------------------------
Hemani Thukral, Managing Director, MyMedicalChoices. Hemani
is a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) in Delhi, India.
She has worked in a number of hospitals in India. This
article can be republished for free as long as the author
information and website links are included.
http://www.mymedicalchoices.com.au
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