Booming "vanity medicine" industry under attack in Florida
CMAJ 2000;162:1030
Canadian snowbirds thinking of undergoing cosmetic or anti-aging medical procedures in Florida might want to think again, considering the findings of a recent investigation by the Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel.
The newspaper, which conducted a computer analysis of physician advertising and records from licensing, police and court records, found that more than 1700 Florida doctors now offer treatments aimed at people who are not ill. The services range from cosmetic surgery, hair transplants and weight-loss programs to chelation therapy and "face peels."
The paper said such services account for the work of 1 in 17 doctors in private practice in the state, and is more than "the total number of doctors who specialize in treating heart disease and cancer combined."
In a 36 000-word, 16-article series (www.sun-sentinel.com/news/newmedicine.htm), the newspaper revealed that at least a dozen unlicensed cosmetic surgeons provide their services from offices, beauty salons and even hotel rooms. In one case, an unlicensed cosmetic surgeon was found to have used a dirty, bent cake spatula bought from a discount hardware store. That practitioner left a male bodybuilder with female breast implants and a "hideous" hole in his thorax, and a 27-year-old female with badly disfigured breasts.
Meanwhile, an owner of a chain of longevity centres who claimed on his Web site to be a physician was found to have no Florida licence. He explained that he had graduated from a Canadian medical school and was licensed to practise in Canada. Last summer, an employee of one of those centres was arrested after he dropped a box of syringes, steroids and other hormones off at a flower shop, exchanging them for more than $1100 in cash.
The Sun-Sentinel also found that 18% of doctors advertising chelation therapy had no medical insurance, and 28% of them had been sanctioned by Florida's medical licensing boards, compared with fewer than 2% of doctors in the general medical population.
Dr. Vincent De Gennaro, president of the Broward County Medical Association, told the newspaper: "I think your articles are right on in terms of the problem. However, in the same paper I see a very large ad for the very person you devote several columns to. We in the medical community are at times hamstrung by everyone's pursuit of profit." — David Helwig, London, Ont.
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