Rebirth of the Women's Plastic Surgery blog

There has been a long hiatus in the posts on the Women's Plastic Surgery blog.  The new website for my practice is nearly complete, and I will be starting to blog again about the following topics:

• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Aesthetic Surgery
• Non-Surgical Aesthetic Procedures - Botox, Dermal Fillers, "Laser" Procedures
• Medical-Grade Skin Care
• Health, Wellness and Beauty
• Women's Health Issues
• Breast Cancer and Breast Reconstruction
• Reconstructive Microsurgery

Blog posts will be linked to and featured on my site.  

Until then, please visit my Twitter feed for regular tweets about these topics!

Karen M. Horton, MD, MSc, FACS, FRCSC

The Jakarta Post Article - The Brave New World of Plastic Surgery

I was recently interviewed by San Francisco freelance writer, May-lee Chai, for an article in the Jakarta Post, Indonesia.

Click on the images for a full-size version of this article on Plastic Surgery.

Medical Spas - A Word of Caution to Doctors

The following is an excerpt from a recent Medical Board of California publication about the business of Medicine:

There has been an explosion of "cosmetic medicine" over the past few years, and many Physicians are being approached to "increase their bottom line" by entering into this lucrative field.

There is a tendency for the public, and some in the profession, to view laser treatments, Botox and cosmetic filler injections as cosmetic rather than medical treatments. The use of prescriptive drugs and devices, however, is the practice of medicine, and the same laws and regulations apply to these types of treatments as those driven by medical necessity.

Cosmetic procedures are the practice of medicine, and Physicians are responsible for their patients, regardless of who performs the treatments. There is no legal scheme that allows Physicians to collect a fee for signing their name to an agreement to lend their license to an entity to practice Medicine.

Legally, the "clients" of the spa or salon are patients - the Physician's patients, and that arrangement comes with all of the responsibility and liability that goes with any other Doctor-patient relationship.

See the entire Medical Board of California article here: http://www.mbc.ca.gov/licensee/medical_spas-business.pdf