A recent article in the New York Times reports that medical practices in Prague are offering cosmetic enhancements to nurses as an employment incentive – free of charge. One nurse opted for breast augmentation and liposuction.
The piece raises some interesting ethical questions: While the procedures could certainly be beneficial to individual nurses in the short term, would such a practice harm the nursing profession as a whole?
According to reporter Dan Bilefsky, nurses in the region “insist they are under enormous pressure to look good in a society where attractiveness is often as highly prized as clinical skills.” Critics argue that the incentives could promote an idealized body image for nurses, in a profession already suffering from misconceptions about technical competence. A spokeswoman from the Czech nurses association argues that nurses are still perceived as “low level workers” with little to offer besides manual labor. Nurses after all, aren’t intended to be models, but caregivers that provide an enormous benefit to the medical profession and the public they serve. A misplaced emphasis on their physical appearance could undermine public perceptions of their competence and value.
Still, others may not see any problem with offering incentives through procedures like breast augmentation or rhinoplasty; perhaps they’re analogous to employee discounts at a retailer, vacation packages, or other career perks.
The supposed ethical problems brought by these surgical incentive programs probably shouldn’t be directed at the programs alone, but rather toward the underlying sexism and discrimination affecting nurses in the region.
Brooke Shields, Mandy Moore, Marisa Tomei, and other big name celebs attended a Hollywood charity event last March to help launch the Latisse Wishes campaign – a charitable cause to support the Make-A-Wish foundation and generate interest in the new eyelash enhancement drug.
Latisse is Allergan’s latest offering, and the first drug to be approved by the FDA for the treatment of hypotrichosis, a condition characterized by inadequate eyelashes. The Latisse Wishes campaign was launched by Allergan with a $500,000 initial contribution to Make-A-Wish.
Hollywood beauty expert and participant Anastasia Soare enthusiastically expressed her support, saying “I constantly work to help make women’s beauty wishes come true, and now we can help children’s wishes come true through the LATISSE™ Wishes campaign.”
It’s no coincidence that the Make-A-Wish foundation was chosen as a beneficiary for Allergan’s campaign; the superstitious “blowing on an eyelash to make a wish come true” provides a clever marketing strategy, backed by philanthropy.
The campaign is encouraging consumers to help double the donation amount by visiting www.Latisse.com and registering their support. From now until the end of the year, Allergan will donate 5 dollars for each new registration, up to one million dollars.
Latisse is now available at our office in Maple Valley, WA; give us a call for more information.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons just released its statistics for 2008, and they show a possible shift in the popularity of certain cosmetic surgery procedures, most notably with breast augmentation. According to the new figures, breast augmentation procedures have exceeded liposuctions for the first time.
341,144 liposuction procedures were performed in 2008, while breast implants far exceeded that figure with a surprising 355,671 procedures. Eyelid surgeries numbered at a lower, but relatively strong 195,104 procedures.
President of the ASPS, Dr. Alan Gold MD tells, “for the first time in the twelve years these statistics have been collected, liposuction is a runner up in popularity to breast augmentation. He went on to predict that “this turnabout will generate discussions in the medical community and the public at large.” “Changes in fashion, i.e. décolletage baring styles, might be a factor in bringing about this change” he theorized.
The new data also shows an overwhelming female component – 92 percent of the 10.2 million cosmetic procedures were had by women.
Here are the top five surgical procedures for 2008:
* Breast Augmentation
* Liposuction
* Eyelid Surgery
* Rhinoplasty
* Abdominoplasty
and the top five non-surgical procedures included:
An NBC news affiliate in Santa Rosa, California recently aired this brief segment on Dr. Steve Weiner and his use of Fraxel re:pair laser therapy.
Dr. Weiner, who conducted a year-long study on the laser, claims that his patients see “dramatic results in just days.” He adds, [Fraxel re:pair] gives you a very natural result without the associated risks of surgery, there’s no general anesthesia, there’s no scars behind the ear and the recovery time is down to about 5 to 7 days.”
Fraxel Repair is intended to smooth out lines, wrinkles, scars and sun damage in one session that may require as little as 30 minutes. For more information on Fraxel repair with Dr. Stacy, see our Fraxel Repair before and after photos or call us at 425-413-8864.
Thermage Inc. has undergone significant changes after acquiring the fractional laser manufacturer Reliant Technologies.
“Solta Medical” has become the new corporate name and a new logo has been created for the Thermage product.
The acquisition of Reliant Tech was initiated last year and recently finalized. Reliant Tech was known for making the succesful brand of Fraxel laser skin resurfacing systems, which are now also under the umbrella of Solta Medical.
Thermage and Fraxel also feature new, more user-friendly websites that show an obvious departure from their previous, more clinical designs.
A new stock ticker symbol will be recognized as “SLTM” on the Nasdaq.
In a recent press release, Solta President Stephen J. Fanning commented, “the name and ticker symbol changes are a great start to the New Year and a key milestone in the integration of the acquisition of Reliant Technologies Inc.”
On the first of December, breast implant and cosmetic specialties supplier Mentor corp (MNT) announced a deal to be acquired by Johnson and Johnson, for the price of $1.1 billion.
While Mentor is mostly focused on providing breast implants, FDA approval is expected in 2010 for their new wrinkle reducing injectable, PurTox. Since it is similarly derived from the botulinum toxin, the drug is supposed to compete with the well-known wrinkle relaxer, Botox.
With the recently troubled market, Mentor tried to boost sales of silicone breast implants, which had typically generated double the revenue of comparable saline implants since the FDA lifted the ban on them two years ago.
A JP Morgan analyst said that the acquisition by JNJ was a result of recent economic issues faced by Mentor Corp. – issues which ultimately forced them to succumb to the deal.
Bio-Ethicist Art Caplan gave a lecture last summer at the Chautauqua Institution of New York, and the topic had some interesting implications for the cosmetic surgery industry and anti-aging overall.
Early in his lecture, Caplan recalled a story about a woman who had been criticized for receiving a facelift. A much younger counterpart said of her, “that’s terrible, you should simply accept the changes [of aging] as they come.” The example served to help Caplan characterize this attitude as one being overly “puritanical.”
In his philosophical argument, Caplan presents many reasons why we should use medical technology and pursue new discoveries in the science of stem cells. With adequate funding and a more informed public, it is possible for us to achieve methods of whole-body anti aging, through the regenerative capabilities of stem cells.
A CBS news affiliate in Indiana presented a cosmetic surgery news feature recently, in which they interviewed Dr. Mark Hamilton, a facial plastic surgeon in Indianapolis. Hamilton revealed some interesting information about the status of ArteFill dermal filler in American markets and the effectiveness of the drug overall.
One year ago, Hamilton had skepticism about the safety of ArteFill. His complaints were concerning the inconsistency of the drug. ArteFill is made of cow collagen and small “micro-spheres” made of plastic. He says the spheres were noticeably irregular and often contained loose particles. For fear of an adverse reaction, he did not recommend it to any of his patients.
Now in 2008, Hamilton basically says that an Americanized version of ArteFill is here and the problems of a year ago are history. The new type is uniform and the number of loose particles have been greatly reduced. He now administers the drug in his practice regularly.
Given that ArteFill has a longer lasting effect than most dermal fillers (sometimes as long as 5 years), and the safety profile is similar to others, it should rest high on the list of considerations for Seattle and Maple Valley area patients interested permanent fillers.
KING 5 health reporter Jean Enersen looked into Thermage’s new cellulite treatment, which promises to reduce the appearance of cellulite in just one session. KING 5 followed one patient who had the procedure four months ago to see if it really worked.
Since we’re number one for Thermage in Washington, we are lucky to have tons of before and after photos of all types of Thermage treatment, including cellulite treatment. We’re happy to show the photos in our office if you’re interested, and can tell you if you’re a candidate – no strings attached.
A recent article in the New York Times reports that medical practices in Prague are offering cosmetic enhancements to nurses as an employment incentive – free of charge. One nurse opted for breast augmentation and liposuction.
