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Patient Safety Issues Again Grabbing Headlines
April 19, 2010
Several recent articles in both the press and Plastic Surgery literature continue to highlight the need for concern about patient safety. This issue is not new to the world of plastic surgery and was first brought to light in a 20/20 story by Diane Sawyer a few years ago advising that "cosmetic surgeons" are not the same as board certified plastic surgeons. Just what is Board certification and what does it mean to prospective patients?
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) is a non-profit body that governs the recognition of various boards. The ABMS is considered the "gold standard" in physician certification and believes that higher standards for physicians means better care for patients. The American Board of Plastic Surgery is the only group of board certified physicians recognized by the ABMS to perform surgery. The various other boards ie. Cosmetic Surgery, Cosmetic Breast Surgery, are not recognized by the ABMS and do not require a residency in plastic surgery. In many instances, these boards require only the payment of a membership fee as a requirement for admission. The requirements to be board certified in Plastic Surgery is five to seven years of residency training after the completion of medical school and passing both a written and oral examination. It also requires continuing education for maintenance of certification. The differences are obvious.
Many people know of the death of rap star Kanye West’s mother, Donde, after undergoing plastic surgery in California. Her death was believed to be caused by coronary artery disease and postoperative factors. She did not receive preoperative medical clearance for the surgery. Her family believed if she had sought pre-operative clearance, her coronary artery disease may have been detected and potentially saved her life. On October 15th, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Donde West plastic surgery bill into law requiring all patients in California to receive written clearance prior to having plastic surgery.
A recent article by Gretchen Voss in Marie Claire titled "Plastic Surgery Nightmares" focused on the growing number of patients suffering severe and potentially life threatening complications at the hands of unqualified "cosmetic surgeons." Although there are potential risks with any surgical procedure, patients need to do all they can to manage that risk by avoiding unqualified physicians looking to improve their bottom line in economic down times. The stories in Ms. Voss’ article are shocking, to say the least, leading many legislatures to begin tackling these issues as California has done in the Donde West case. This legislation can’t come soon enough for some patients. Anne Taylor, the Editor of Plastic Surgery News, touched on this subject in the September edition of PSN. She spoke of the greed in medicine and questions corporate policies that will sell medical products or devices to any physician willing to buy. Dr. Taylor also questions the ability of some physicians self-regulation in knowing that doing a procedure that you weren’t trained to do is probably unethical and unprofessional. She concludes by wishing for cosmetic surgery to be done by qualified plastic surgeons, and calls for a move to a collective culture of integrity and value.
So, what can a patient do?
-Seek Plastic Surgery from Board Certified Plastic Surgeons, such as The Plastic Surgery Group
-Ask your doctor if they have credentials to do your surgery in the hospital.
-Use resources available to you such as the ABMS website, The American Society of Plastic Surgery website and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery website to help guide you to physicians in your area who have the training necessary to give you your best possible results.
Dr. Michael Columbus
The Plastic Surgery Group Winter Newsletter
