Doctor calls plastic surgery the 'Wild West' of medicine

Article by: MARILYN KALFUS , Orange County Register
Updated: August 2, 2012 - 5:55 PM

A Michigan doctor says he has been horrified by botched cosmetic procedures on patients who later turned to him for help after using doctors who weren't board-certified plastic surgeon

Dr. Anthony Youn, M.D., F.A.C.S. is photographed in his office, Youn Plastic Surgery, in Troy, Michigan, May 25, 2011.

Photo: KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL, MCT

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SANTA ANA, Calif. - Dr. Anthony Youn says he has been horrified by botched cosmetic procedures on patients who later turned to him for help: a liposuction that left shark bite-sized divots all over a woman's thighs and stomach, another woman given "watermelon-sized" breast implants and liposuction that left her stomach "a rippled, lumpy mess."

In addition to bad outcomes, both cases had this in common, he says: Neither doctor was a board certified plastic surgeon.

Youn, a plastic surgeon and author who has been quoted frequently, wrote a cautionary tale on CNN.com recently.

Some excerpts:

"Plastic surgery has become the Wild West of medicine, with an increasing number of doctors performing invasive cosmetic procedures without proper training or credentials," he says.

Medical boards don't restrict doctors from performing surgery outside their specialty, so many physicians are drifting into plastic surgery to make extra cash.

He writes: "This lack of regulation has allowed an increasing number of doctors of all types - including gynecologists, general surgeons and even emergency medicine physicians - to perform tummy tucks, liposuction, facelifts and breast enhancement."

The procedures are "almost never" performed in real hospitals, where surgeons are vetted and permitted to practice only in their field of expertise. "Doctors get around this by performing cosmetic procedures in their own in-office operating rooms or at ambulatory surgery centers, where the credentialing requirements may not be as strict," he writes.

The bottom line: If you are contemplating plastic surgery, he says, seek out a physician certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. The American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery certifies facial plastic surgeons.