Does Cosmetic Surgery Need More Government Oversight?
"California lawmakers want increased oversight of doctors performing cosmetic procedures in outpatient facilities." -Los Angeles Times
California Assembly Bill 2968 was generated by the death of Donda West, 58 year old mother of Kanye West.
Donda - according to the L.A. County Coroner - did not die from any operating room slip-up, nor from a specific error under anesthesia. But there still lingers a question as to how well Mrs. West's state of health was evaluated, well before surgery.
Common sense and sound medical practice suggests that patients, of any age, should have "medical clearance". Medical clearance is a history and physical plus appropriate laboratory, x-ray and electrocardiogram testing as a basic means of evaluating suitability for - and the risk of - both the operation itself and the anesthesia. Sometimes, additional consultation with other specialists, such as cardiologists, is called for. In Mrs. West's case, we know that she had significant risk factors such as family history of heart disease, borderline diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and other factors that made her higher risk than might be acceptable.
What seemed to be lacking in the West case is what we doctors call clinical judgment; just plain old medical common sense. Whether the patient is a celebrity or not, a cosmetic surgeon's first obligation is to ponder whether or not the operation is "too risky". As we teach our trainees, "Think before cutting."
Despite these good intentions of legislators, there are only so many laws that can be put into place to regulate medical practice, already the most overseen and highly -regulated of all professions.
It is naive and unrealistic to propose yet another law intended to control thought processes and decision-making.
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Technorati Tags: cosmetic surgery, Donda West, risk factors
California Assembly Bill 2968 was generated by the death of Donda West, 58 year old mother of Kanye West.
Donda - according to the L.A. County Coroner - did not die from any operating room slip-up, nor from a specific error under anesthesia. But there still lingers a question as to how well Mrs. West's state of health was evaluated, well before surgery.
Common sense and sound medical practice suggests that patients, of any age, should have "medical clearance". Medical clearance is a history and physical plus appropriate laboratory, x-ray and electrocardiogram testing as a basic means of evaluating suitability for - and the risk of - both the operation itself and the anesthesia. Sometimes, additional consultation with other specialists, such as cardiologists, is called for. In Mrs. West's case, we know that she had significant risk factors such as family history of heart disease, borderline diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and other factors that made her higher risk than might be acceptable.
What seemed to be lacking in the West case is what we doctors call clinical judgment; just plain old medical common sense. Whether the patient is a celebrity or not, a cosmetic surgeon's first obligation is to ponder whether or not the operation is "too risky". As we teach our trainees, "Think before cutting."
Despite these good intentions of legislators, there are only so many laws that can be put into place to regulate medical practice, already the most overseen and highly -regulated of all professions.
It is naive and unrealistic to propose yet another law intended to control thought processes and decision-making.
Related Topics:
Technorati Tags: cosmetic surgery, Donda West, risk factors
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