The ‘doctor’ will see you now...
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Non-plastic surgeons and non-medical practitioners alike are ramping up efforts to perform cosmetic procedures. Leaning on vague language to tout credentials and a public drawn to low prices, patient safety remains in the crosshairs.
By Paul Snyder
September 2021
SPS member Liza Wu, MD, Philadelphia, knows how easy it can be for patients to decide upon a non-plastic surgeon for a cosmetic procedure – because she knows doctors who do the same thing. She doesn’t have to look any further than her own family. “About 10 years ago, my mother wanted a laser treatment for hyperpigmentation on her face,” she recalls. “I was home visiting and she’s telling me about how she went to a doctor to get laser work for the dark spots on her face, but it didn’t help at all.” Puzzled, Dr. Wu asked her mother who she saw for the treatment. She casually replied that it was an OB/GYN. “My mom’s a physician, a family practitioner,” Dr. Wu says. “I’m looking at her, saying, ‘Why would you do that?’ She just said her friend had recommended him and she trusted him. That’s it. It was just shocking to me that a doctor would do that – never mind a doctor whose daughter is a plastic surgeon – but a recommendation from a friend can be enough. They just assume the doctor knows what they’re doing.”
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