Both clinics and joint clinics must be owned by certified physicians, a condition which is not mandatory for hospitals, which must instead employ a medical administrative consultant. According to Abdallah, most plastic surgery centres are not owned by physicians and thus cannot be classified as joint clinics. Nor can they be classified as hospitals, for they do not offer services in more than one field of medicine, he adds. Abdallah concedes that many centres have resumed business despite official decrees ordering their closure. Some of the centres have violated the law and will be punished, while others resumed business after adapting to legal stipulations.
Many doctors feel that misleading advertisements are to blame for the violation of patients' trust.
Advertisements placed by centres seeking quick profits are very dangerous. Several of my patients were harmed or given false prescriptions at such centers. They had simply fallen prey to misleading ads. They should check the names of medical staff, and make sure the centre is medically qualified. Ahmed Shawqi suggests that more restrictions be imposed on the information provided in ads, while Ghita insists advertisements should be totally banned.