AS a member of the Public Education Committee of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and the immediate past president of the Washington Society of Plastic Surgeons, it is often my duty to respond to inquiries from the media. I do so with honesty and completeness, just as I do with my patients. In my interview with Nielsen, I was careful to point out that despite this good news, plastic surgeons today continue to give all prospective patients a thorough and lengthy delineation of all potential risks of the surgery. A bond of trust is the basis of the doctor-patient relationship. When a patient undergoes surgery, this relationship becomes a long-term commitment, not simply a commercial exchange.
Women receive breast implants for both reconstructive and cosmetic reasons.
As it turns out, on the day the column was published, my breast-implant patient was a breast cancer survivor. She has already endured a mastectomy, radiation treatments and two bone-marrow transplants. Research has clearly demonstrated that breast reconstruction can make a significant contribution to a woman's emotional recovery from the trauma of breast cancer. Inflammatory and condescending rhetoric about breast implants trivializes her ordeal. Whatever the reason for a woman to consider breast implant surgery, it is a personal decision.