Imagine this - people who aren't really doctors are going round the country performing unnecessary intrusive surgical procedures, ones requiring anaesthetic, cutting people open. The media, instead of being outraged, conspires with these people to promote the procedures to people who have no interest in them. Stories about how these procedures enhanced peoples lives fill the media both as features and as advertisements. Little or no mention is made of the risks. The government does nothing even when children are being operated on. Sound ridiculous? Welcome to the post-apocalyptic future world of your nightmares... Correction: Welcome to now.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Apocalypse Now!
Imagine this - people who aren't really doctors are going round the country performing unnecessary intrusive surgical procedures, ones requiring anaesthetic, cutting people open. The media, instead of being outraged, conspires with these people to promote the procedures to people who have no interest in them. Stories about how these procedures enhanced peoples lives fill the media both as features and as advertisements. Little or no mention is made of the risks. The government does nothing even when children are being operated on. Sound ridiculous? Welcome to the post-apocalyptic future world of your nightmares... Correction: Welcome to now.
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2 comments:
All the clients are volunteers. I agree that the clinics are under-regulated, but I find it hard to understand your blanket opposition to the idea. I find programs like "Ten Years Younger" on Channel4 sick, but to me it's up to an individual what they do with their fat, skin and money.
Your point presumably is that people have free will to choose whether or not to undergo procedures. However free will is meaningless unless we have full accurate information widely available that truthfully describes both the benefits and risks.
I also suspect that if I told you these things were being sold to people with mental illnesses, you would think that wrong. Yet evidence suggests many people putting themselves forward for cosmetic surgery may well be suffering BDD (body dismorphic disorder).
What if these people were selling medical equipment that could be used to make yourself sick to anorexic people? Just because BDD is a less "visible"* mental disorder, it's sufferers deserve no less protection.
*And actually BDD is pretty visible in some cases:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1251/578251430_d6d67603dc.jpg
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