Cosmetic Surgery Patients At More Risk Than Ever

A special edition of the journal, Clinical Risk, published by the Royal Society of Medicine, looks at how the combination of an under-regulated market, “professional greed”, increased marketing and overwhelming media hype have created a “perfect storm” that threatens patients and practitioners alike. The journal’s editor argues that cosmetic surgery patients in the UK are at more risk than ever before.

Dr Harvey Marcovitch, who commissioned leading experts in the field to write for this special issue said, “Patient safety is this journal’s main aim and there can be no area of medicine where patients in the UK are more in need of protection. We need tight control of advertising of cosmetic surgery – including internet advertising. We need proper regulation of the industry and we need both surgeons and GPs to manage patient expectation.”

In one paper, entitled ‘Clinical Risk in Aesthetic Surgery’, Nigel Mercer, consultant plastic surgeon and President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) argues: “We have reached a stage where public expectation, driven by media hype and, dare one say, professional greed, has brought us to a ‘perfect storm’ in the cosmetic surgical market.”

He adds, “There has been a massive increase in ‘marketing’, including discount vouchers, 2-for-1 offers and holidays with surgery! Read more