US attitudes toward aging drive patient demands for elective medical and surgical services. Ethical physicians must make sure patients have realistic expectations.
Two physicians present their viewpoints on the practice of plastic surgery on reality television shows and the accuracy of the information provided by these shows.
A bioethicist argues that children with Down syndrome should not be subjected to cosmetic surgery to change their appearance unless they are at the age and have the capacity to make the decision for themselves.
A plastic surgeon criticizes reality television programs that focus on plastic surgery for their less-than-realistic depictions of cosmetic procedures and the profession as a whole.
Plastic surgeons need to carefully evaluate the degree of deformity, physical and emotional maturity, and desired outcome for adolescent patients who request elective cosmetic surgery.
Plastic surgeons need to better screen and educate adolescent patients and their parents about the risks of performing cosmetic surgery on bodies that have not reached maturity and the psychological implications of surgery on developing body image.
Eitan Neidich, Alon B. Neidich, David A. Axelrod, MD, and John P. Roberts, MD
Geographic disparities in availability of organs for transplant have spawned for-profit companies that help patients get on waitlists in more than one region and arrange travel for them if an organ becomes available.