Cosmetic Surgeons Ticked Off By Royal Society Of Medicine

The UK’s Royal Society of Medicine has come down hard on the cosmetic surgery industry for endangering health of patients in its pursuit of profits.

Writing in the latest issue of the Society’s Clinical Risk journal, Nigel Mercer, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, lashed out, “It seems as if the doctor's first duty to protect their patients has been forgotten by many in the cosmetic surgery market.”

‘Quackery’ was outlawed in medicine over a century ago, but it is in danger of returning, perhaps in this time. One only has to look in women's magazines to read unsubstantiated claims for procedures and treatments.

The General Medical Council (GMC) of the UK, enshrined that duty as the overriding principal of Medicine, and it has been set out in the Hippocratic Oath for millennia, but not many seemed to care.

 "The authors of the invited articles in this issue of Clinical Risk were given a broad remit to enable them to explore ‘clinical risk’ as it applies to their practice, expertise and healthcare system in relation to aesthetic surgery," Mercer said, and noted in a globalized world access to cosmetic surgery becomes easier and everyone vies for it.

But those in constant quest of better looks run several risks. A patient from the west of England died from DVT, following a facelift abroad.

The public are aware of the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after a flight and also after surgical procedures. This risk can be reduced by taking aspirin for antithrombotic prophylaxis, but aspirin increases the risk of perioperative bleeding in cosmetic surgical procedures, so patients in the UK are usually asked to stop before major cosmetic surgery, because a haematoma may need a return to theatre and lead to other complications.