At What Cost BEAUTY?

摘要

It was not that long ago that the term makeover suggested little more than a new eye shadow or a dye job. Now it is just as likely to result in a straighter nose, larger breasts and a brow that won't furrow when confronted by even the most noxious odor. That attaining such features often involves anesthesia, injections, incisions, blood and a professional with at least seven years of medical training is a distinction increasingly lost on the general population. But plastic surgery does mean going under the knife, and lately there have been plenty of reminders of the risks involved. From May 2003 to January 2004, five people in Florida died following cosmetic plastic surgery, prompting the state's board of medicine to open an investigation. All five, ranging in age from 38 to 63, had their operations done in doctors' offices. One had a breast augmentation; another, surgery on his eyes, chin and neck; another had liposuction and a fat transfer; and two, lipo-suction and tummy tuck. Citing an "immediate danger to public health," the board issued a 90-day moratorium on the two procedures being performed together in a nonhospital setting. A 54-year-old woman, the wife of a cardiologist, died of complications from plastic surgery last week while undergoing a procedure at one of New York City's most prestigious hospitals, the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, run by Sherrell Aston, husband of socialite Muffle Potter Aston. This is the same location where last month, in a case that made national headlines, The First Wives Club author Olivia Goldsmith, whose work often celebrated and satirized plastic surgery, died after seeking a cosmetic procedure. Both women died of complications from anesthesia.