The media floods our senses with a constant barrage of cosmetic surgery propaganda. Consequently, the public remains ignorant of the UGLY and tragic reality lurking beneath the surface of multimillions $$$$ in advertising, political lobbying and funding of cosmetic plastic surgery by Big Pharma and the Medical Mafia.

With all that money and power successfully persuading vulnerable people to hand over big bucks to plastic surgeons, they continue to do everything in their substantial power to hide the TRUTH regarding the percentage of devastating complications resulting from cosmetic procedures.

There are many reasons why the public will never know about the extremely high percentage of cosmetic procedures that go horrifically wrong. Injured patients do not come forward to publicly reveal the truth about their bad experiences. On the rare occasion when they do, they may find themselves sued by doctors and blacklisted from receiving proper medical attention for the very injuries caused by their cosmetic surgery.

I know, because I am one of those defiant injured patients who chose to voice the truth about my own tragic experience, and have paid the price. My voice, and those like mine, are but a drop of reality in the ocean of subterfuge crafted by the plastic surgery industry.

HBO's documentary film, "Plastic Disasters" uncovers the ugly truth behind the facade of beauty, plastic surgery style. If you think the newspapers and magazines you read are giving you the information you NEED to make an informed decision regarding cosmetic surgery, you are living in a dream world. Not a single magazine that purports to give its readers the latest "news" on cosmetic surgery was willing to print an interview with the filmmakers of this compelling film, which contains what you REALLY need to know before you walk into a plastic surgeon's office.

Please visit my website for information on my experience and participation in "Plastic Disasters." You may lose more than you bargain for in undergoing cosmetic surgery.


Losing Face

HBO: Plastic Disasters

Your experience truly does matter to all of us women out there! It's great that you are making your experience known. Its sad to see how highly plastic surgery is regarded in the media world!! I'm am curious, though, to see how you feel about the "true life" shows that MTV had documented regarding plastic surgery. There are more and more ways that the media is being used to show the harsh realities of plastic surgery. Its great for the public to be informed regarding this issue!!!

Princess,

Thank you for your response. I confess that I do not watch TV very often and never saw any of the MTV programs about cosmetic surgery. I watched one "Extreme Makeover" program and that was enough for me. Until my participation in "Plastic Disasters", I had never seen anything on HBO.

However, I recall Discovery Channel broadcasting an entire weekend, 24 hrs. every day, of plastic surgery procedures. It was only on the last night of this TV surgery marathon that they showed a single "bad" outcome of a woman with a badly scarred face from laser resurfacing. They made a great point of the fact that this woman's procedure was done by an unqualified doctor. After all the programs aired, a disclosure appeared on the screen that the entire weekend's broadcasting was funded by the American Society of Plastic Surgery!

You may have noticed that all negative media regarding cosmetic surgery tends to emphasize that these mishaps are performed by UNQUALIFIED doctors. However, in my 8 years of communicating with hundreds of women who have been badly injured by cosmetic procedures, the vast majority were performed by board certified plastic surgeons; many of whom are considered "top docs".. the cream of the crop, so to speak... Some of these "renowned" surgeons are prolific contributors to medical journals in which they tout "new and improved" surgical techniques, etc., yet never reveal that they use patients as guinea pigs for these "new surgical innovations". They certainly do not provide the patient with this information. In cosmetic surgery, informed consent is a matter of symantics.

Years of researching the medical literature revealed many ugly and disturbing facts regarding the funding surgeons receive from some very unlikely sources. One that come to mind is an article in an aesthetic surgery journal about facelifts. At the end of the article, in very fine print, is the disclosure that this study was funded by the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation! I cannot help but wonder what contributors to this foundation would think if they knew their money was being used to fund studies on facelifting.

Cosmetic surgery is a cash business, entirely outside the realm of medical insurers, and thus below the radar of every other medical treatment. This money, and the people who end up with it in their pockets, wields power over the media and literally prevents the truth from reaching the public. Every botched procedure the media exposes cautions against having surgery by UNQUALIFIED doctors. This is just another back-handed way of promoting "board certified" surgeons, who are actually the biggest culprits.
All of the patients featured in "Plastic Disasters" were injured by board certified plastic surgeons.

Women need to rethink the reasons they risk their health, and perhaps their lives, for the sake of an external "improvement" they really do not need. The single, most precious possession anyone has is GOOD HEALTH. The best way to keep that treasure is by avoiding needlessly jumping on an operating table when you do not have to do so to save your life.

Thanks for reading my rant

Losing Face