Yet again in recent weeks cosmetic surgery has been in the media spotlight for all of the wrong reasons. From my point of view, this case simply reinforces the need for patients to be informed about who their surgeon is, and what kind of facility they will be having their procedure in. There are a couple of things (which, I should point out, have been highlighted by the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons in various interviews and media releases) that have been emphasised. You can read about these issues here. There is another issue however that I worry has not been articulated clearly enough. Over the years I have observed the “Plastic Surgeon vs. Cosmetic Surgeon” debate with concern. This debate tends to arise mainly when a patient has been harmed or suffered some sort of complication after cosmetic surgery (as in the current case in Sydney), and then the story is picked up in the tabloid press. This is repeated time and again, and each time the conversation runs along the lines of: “how do patients protect themselves from unqualified (or underqualified) surgeons?”. When cosmetic practitioners (in their various guises) are grouped together with Plastic Surgeons by a poorly … Continue reading Cosmetic Surgery in the media again….