According to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were nearly 133,000 cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed in California in 1998, the last year for which figures are available. The growth rates in some of these cosmetic procedures are exponential. Physician Organization Concerned Physician organizations in California decry online bidding and referral services as unethical and possibly illegal, characterizing them as Internet medicine shows that allow shady practitioners to prey with impunity on unsuspecting patients. This is a gross distortion of the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Certainly, with elective surgery, cost is an issue, but I have patients who are willing to pay more to get better results.
Price is a very poor way to establish a relationship.
They're in this to make a buck. I think it would be your more desperate individual who would be bidding online. That's not your board-certified plastic surgeon, who has gone through all that training, who would want to get into the gutter with this kind of activity. Society members have approached three state legislators, asking them to request an investigation by the state Attorney General's Office into the practice of online bidding for surgical services, McGuire said. Astrid Meghrigian, general counsel for the California Medical Association, said that for-profit referral services are illegal under state law, as are any offers of discounted rates for any medical services.