“It’s an industry that has developed in health care which has nothing to do with health care” – Prof Merrilyn Walton
If you didn’t see 60 Minutes segment ‘The Beauty Trap’ on Sunday night, here it is:
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/14564687[/vimeo]
The program tells the tragic story of Lauren James, who died three years ago at the age of 26 following an $8000 liposuction procedure on her thighs in a Melbourne clinic. We hear from her bereft parents and boyfriend.
It also tells the story of Kerry who suffered life-long disfigurement as a result of undergoing a breast lift as part of a $25,000 “Mum’s Makeover”, also in Melbourne. Kerry bravely tells her story and shows the extent of the mutilation of both her breasts. This extract from the transcript:
KERRY MULLINS: I was in there for three months, and each and every other day they’d take me down to theatre and so I had 22 operations all up, and every second day they would cut it away, cut it away, cut it away until it was just a big hole in my chest.
TARA BROWN: How were you coping, mentally?
KERRY MULLINS: Um, all I kept thinking was I just want to live. There was a couple of times I didn’t want to wake up, but I was in so much pain and I did looked so disfigured that I didn’t want to wake up…
KERRY MULLINS: That is my right breast, and that is my left breast and they are the scars I’m left with.
TARA BROWN: This is not easy for you, is it?
KERRY MULLINS: No, it isn’t, it isn’t, but I just want women to be aware that is they’re going to consider having plastic surgery that they look and have a look at me and see what the outcome can be, and this is what you can end up looking like.
TARA BROWN: How do you feel about your body today?
KERRY MULLINS: Um, like a freak. I’m disgusted. Even when I wash myself, I feel disgusted that I even have to even wash that area and touch that area.
TARA BROWN: Do you think you’ll ever lose that feeling?
KERRY MULLINS: No, never, never ever.
Professor Merrilyn Walton, who has investigated Australia’s cosmetic surgery industry in Australia, says it is “an industry that has developed in health care that has nothing to do with health care.” She also says Australia’s industry is less regulated than elsewhere.
It is time the industry was made accountable for preying on women, enticing them with false promises and playing down the risks. There should be a major overhaul of the industry with tighter regulation and accountability.
17 Responses
The saddest thing is, is that women are left to feel like they need to fit in to a certain mould. The media sets standards for us that are absolute unattainable. Women are supposed to be different shapes and sizes!!! There is not one set poster-plan for a “real” women.
These poor ladies who have been victims to this disgusting vanity-stricken industry.
Oh the irony Melinda, that cosmetic surgery clinics are spamming this post! Unregulated indeed.
@Jess
As much as I see what you’re getting at, the saddest thing is NOT “that women are left to feel like they need to fit in to a certain mould.” That is a moderate level of shittiness; by far the saddest thing is that women are MUTILATED in an attempt to fit that mould, and that some even DIE.
Absolutely disgusting..yes mutilation of bodies, instead of ‘do no harm’..so much for the Oath..
What makes me sick is the tragic cases of deformities that fellow human beings have to endure for lack of amenity to plastic surgery..why don’t these doctors organize a system where they can be making their money from doing LEGITIMATE plastic surgery on people of the world who NEEED it!…PLASTIC SURGEONS SANS FRONTIERS..where have all the ethics gone?
long time passing..
Kerry Mullins is a very brave woman. She is also breaking new frontiers. I don’t believe it is the case that her surgeon, Dr. Morris Ritz from The Melbourne Institute of Plastic surgery did not have the “untarnished” reputation she thought he had. I believe it is more likely that others have had to sign a document in their “out of court settlements” stating that they will never mention his name. Others have simply been victim to the lies he tells authorities. Kerry has paved the way for other women to speak out- There are many plastic/cosmetic/reconstructive surgeons in Australia- of all levels of training AND JUST AS MANY I HAVE REASON TO BELIEVE HAVE RECONSTRUCTIVE FULL BLOWN SURGICAL DEGREES. These men (because they are men) have better networks and our indemnity sytem still protects them to “threatening” women into silence in the event that we speak out to protect each other. We are the first generation of women for whom plastic/cosmetic surgery has become widely available and we owe it to each other to support each other and the younger women of the next generation. There’s a LOT of smoke and mirrors in plastic/cosmetic surgery in this country. A lot of emotional heart ache, a lot of pain, both physical and mental.
The previous message from Antoinette is right. This industry is one where powerful male reconstructive/plastic surgeons and their morally dubious ‘legal eagles’ form shocking, out dated “defences” that suggest that any woman who speaks out against the abuse they’ve suffered at the hands of these men- some of whom don’t do “bad” work- they just do the work they want’ to do some times, by treating women like stone rather than human beings by extra, non-consensual procedures etc…. and then turn around and call them “neurotic” whenever they attempt to stand up for themselves. It all smacks of the way we’ve been controlled over the centuries. It’s very nasty stuff and there is NOTHING like a man with a knife, who thinks “HE KNOWS” what YOU need to to wreck your soul. In Kerry’s case a man who should have known better put a perfectly healthy woman through EIGHT HOURS OF SURGERY- that is something most health practitioner surgeons would not subject a patient to, unless the situation was life threatening. She trusted him and there is no reason for her not to have. That’s the worst part about it. He had all the “credentials” but he still put her life at risk. I don’t care that he might have done it many times before- these mulitple procedures- without this kind of thing occuring. It doesn’t make it right. It’s very dangerous. VERY DANGEROUS.
I had a small amount of liposuction from Dr. Morris Ritz and I didn’t have anything serious happen to me. In terms of the surgery it went to plan but I was in SOOO MUCH Pain afterwards. Much more pain than he suggested I’d be in. He had suggested multiple procedures but I knew I had a low pain threshold so I said yes to only one. Thank god. Even if things went to plan, the amount of pain might nevertheless have been immense. I don’t know how people can get away with this kind of thing and only have to pay, what for them and thier insurers, is not really a lot of money, and still go on practising. Even if it’s never happened before, I CARE THAT IS HAS HAPPENED TO KERRY MULLINS and that is ONE TOO MANY for me. Thanks, Kerry I know I wont’ be risking it again- not with any surgeon and not for any man!
Lauren’s surgeon has vowed never to do liposuction on any woman ever again despite the thousands of successful procedures he’s done in the past. Sounds like he might have learnt something. Let’s hope he also answers his phone or beeper when it’s the week end and/or puts another surgeon on call to do it for him. As for Dr. Morris Ritz plasticsurgeon, I believe he’s been back doing the same old same old…. AND paving the way to bring macrolane – the injectible breast “potion” into Australia. Oh please, can we not have a little time for “reflection”- nope, just good old self-promotion.
I have to agree with the above. Of course, both Lauren and Kerry’s surgeons did not want this to happen. Of course they feel terrible about it. It must be shocking for them. No one wants this kind of thing to happen. But neither of them could feel anything like as bad as Lauren’s family, partner and friends, or Kerry Mullins herself who is now a victim of trauma in a very real sense. Something has to change because Antoinette is right. There are a lot of negligence cases in Plastic Surgery in Australia that we never hear about because of the “hush money” clause. Call it what you like, but it’s really unfair on women.
It is incredibly sad to see so many of you in a feeding frenzy over such a pathetic piece of tabloid tv journalism but even sadder to see that you all actually are happy to take on face value what 60 minutes threw at you all 2 Sundays ago. As someone who has worked extensively in the beauty and journalism industry in the last 30 years I am astounded that you all would be prepared to act as the jury on these 2 plastic surgical cases and have the surgeons found guilty as charged on absolutely no good evidence. Not only that but you use these isolated cases to justify a broadsweeping and unfounded critique of cosmetic/aesthetic surgery and portray it as a predatory industry that has only recently emerged. This could not be farther from the truth. Cosmetic surgery and desire for humans ( male and female ) has been around and documented for well over 1000 years so you will just have to get over the fact that many (not all ) people feel the desire to build self esteem and personal confidence through enhancing their physical appearance.Despite what Professor Melton in the 60 minutes program stated about cosmetic surgery not being part of medicine there are now well over 100 publications by well respected psychologists and psychiatrists documenting real psychosocial benefits in patients that undergo so long as those patients are doing it for the right reasons. This was never mentioned in what was an unbelievably biased program which was clearly poorly researched. Quite clearly when viewing this blog and your comments you all have a lot of time on your hands and you are also happy to make many assumptions about plastic surgery in Australia like “there is a lot of negligence” and “hush money” and “non-consensual procedures” and “very nasty stuff”- come on get over yourselves and look at the facts. Both these surgeons are highly respected members of the Australian society of Plastic Surgeons now regarding as a leading light in plastic surgery internationally and like many of their colleagues they spend much of their time fixing up major real botch ups by poorly trained GP plastic surgeons.Many spend a good proportion of their time performing complex and liefsaving reconstructive surgery when they are not doing purely cosmetic work. Both would also freely admit I am sure that this sort of surgery like any surgery is not without risk and these risks need to be carefully weighed up by the patients in multiple pre-op consultations before proceeding. Stop turning this into a feminist campaign against male plastic surgeons- almost half of plastic surgical trainees are now female according to US data and they are even more likely statistically to have cosmetic surgery as part of their practice. Men and women will go on for eternity requesting this sort of surgery and most will achieve a high level of satisfaction with their results in surgery that can really make a difference. If you all continue to spend your spare time bouncing these comments off each other you are simply painting yourselves as the target this trashy journalism ie the lowest common denominator – we all deserve better than that.
Fascinating Jacinta. You tell the women on this blog that it is terribly sad that they have nothing better to do than to comment on here and yet your blog is longer than the rest of them. Wake-up Jacinta. Yes, very often tabloid shows like 60 minutes run badly researched stories but not when it involves mentioning the names of doctors. The 60 minutes legal team went over and over this with a fine tooth comb, let me tell you. I have worked in television for all my adult life, and channel 9 would not have run this story if it was not entirely based in fact. Lauren’s surgeon did not return one phone call from her distraught boyfriend. No one from that clinic was there for her. That is a fact and it doesn’t matter whether the surgeon belongs to The Australian Soceity of Plastic Surgeons or if he’s won a Nobel Peace Prize. Why are you so impressed by what “society” a surgeon belongs to? Does his “status” somehow may his negligence less serious? The negligence was ruled by a judge, who took advice from the coroner who said that up until one hour prior to Lauren’s death, she could have been saved. The coroner was quoted. That is not “unsubstantiated” journalism. Sometimes, tabloid journalism does gets things right. Also, Kerry Mullins sued Dr. Morris Ritz and won in an out of court settlement, which basically means that Dr.Ritz’s lawyers knew he had no chance of winning and they were therefore unprepared to go to court and lose, and then have to pay all Kerry Mullins’s court expenses as well. If a medical insurance’s indemnity lawyers think the doctor has any chance of winning, they don’t enter “out of court settlements”. I know an obstatrician who had a baby die at birth. The family sued him. However, there was a lot of expert evidence that suggested the baby was born with certain issues that meant it would have died anyway. This matter went all the way to the High Court of Australia and the surgeon won. Trust me on this one; If medical insurers think the doctor has any chance of winning, they will not pay. It is therefore safe to assume that what Kerry Mullins said was true. Dr.RItz put her life and health at risk by making her undergo an eight hour operation with multiple procedures that should have been done one at a time. That is what the expert witnesses – ie; “other” plastic/reconstructive surgeons- no doubt members of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, or the equivalent- stated. Without those expert witnesses all agreeing, Ms. Mullins would not have won. Also, Dr. RItz should have known that the combination of a patient who has recently given up breast feeding as well as smoking, presented serious risks. Also, Dr. RItz did not warn Kerry Mullins about all the risks. You state that all these things are explained before and weighed up before, but clearly, in Ms. Mullins’s case, this is not what happened. Why do you hold men who are members of a Surgical society in such enormous awe? That’s the question you should be asking yourself. Many men in positions of power, who are members of clubs and deemed to be respectable and responsible, are not. Often, the higher up the rank they go, the more ego-driven and right they think they are, and the less they actually abide by the rules. I come from a family of three generations of surgeons and it is just not the case that ‘membership’ of some kind of society necessarily makes for a more responsible surgeon. Why do you think it’s the case that when police bust internal pedophile rings, or off shore serious white collar money crimes, that the perpetrators come from the most “repsectable” of the professions- high court judges, doctors, parliamentarians etc… I’m not drawing any comparisions between those kind of dispicable acts with these surgeons, but you’re living in some kind of “Pollyanna” land if you really think that the fact that these surgeons are members of the “Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons” makes them incapable of the level of negligence and malpractice that they have both, in one way or another, clearly engaged in. You should perhaps back up your statement that this particular segment on 60 minutes was not based on proper research and fact. I’m sorry to say, that in this case, you are wrong. Many expert witnesses – no doubt some from the same “society” – would have testified saying that Dr.RItz should have performed Kerry Mullins’s surgeries separately and not in one eight hour procedure. I watched this segment with my partiner who is a highly regarded neuro-surgeon and not someone who goes in for tabloid journalism at all. However, when he heard about this “EIGHT HOUR” operation, he was appalled. Sorry Jacinta, but that is a very long operation by anyone’s standard. The longer an operation, the more dangerous everything becomes. My partner performs these lengthy operations, only when they are 100% necessary for a patient’s survival and/or serious health. There is just no excuse to subject a healthy human being to eight hours of surgery. No excuse, except maybe the $25,000- mum’s makeover fee. It is very difficult for anyone who knows anything about medicine to accept that Dr.Ritz put his patient’s health and care at the forefront of his practice when he suggested this to Kerry Mullins. And no matter how much you would like to fantaise that he must have sat her down and weighed up the pros and cons, and discussed all the risks with her, the fact is he didn’t. He made it sound like “no big deal”. And Jacinta, I’m really sorry if this bursts your naive bubble about the goodness of anyone who belongs to the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, but Dr. Morris RItz performed a number of non-consensual procedures on a very close member of my family and it severely traumatised her for some time to come. When she reported him to the Medical Board, he lied to them and said they never happened. When we obtained her file from his rooms through Freedom of Information, it was immediately clear that he had fudged her medical records. He had added things that never occured, and removed entire procedures from the file. The thing is, that we have since obtained forensic type photography from a variety of sources- including photographic imaging from another surgeon, that prove, beyond a shadow of doubt that these procedures occured. I know they did, because I saw them on her face on the days that she came home distraught when they occured. When she aksed him about one of them he told her “I am preserving your doe-eyed look”. See- I write this to you now Jacinta, because we have ALL the evidence’- otherwise, I would not dare subject myself to a defamation case- but when you are telling the truth and you can PROVE that truth, then you are less afraid of defamtion. In short, if Dr.Ritz would like to ever sue me for printing this here, then he will also have to face the consequences of me providing someone like 60 minutes, or maybe even Four Corners with the irrefutable scientific evidence I will give them, along with all the lies for which he gave his signature to in relation to the entire sage. Dr. RItz wanted my family member to look beautiful. I have no doubt of that. But he didn’t ask her if he wanted these particular “additions” that he did during other “consensual” surgery. That’s becuase, he is a reckless individual who really believes that he has a right to do what he thinks will look best. That, I am sorry to say, is a surgeon with a massive ego and some kind of narcissistic personality disorder. If he wants to be michelangelo, then he should go and sculpt stone. For a man in his position to not comprehendd what a violation such an action is against a woman, is very scary. She is only lucky that in her case, he didn’t make her look bad. Yes, much of work is very good and very subtle, but that is not the point. It doesn’t matter if he turned my gorgeous cousin into the most beautiful woman in the world, he had no right whatsoever and if he doesn’t understand that, then he has “issues”, let’s say that. So, Jacinta, you should get off your instant admiration for a couple of men who should have known better and perhaps look at what the facts really are. Tabloid journalism is not always wrong. Plastic Surgeons who are members of a “society” are not always right. LIfe is grey, not black and white. I really don’t have a major issue with women having plastic surgery. It has its place. I’ve had some myself. And yes, sometimes, no doubt it is medically beneficial. No doubt, in the case of someone with a very unusual nose, or protruding ears, or seriously unusual looks that they cannot handle, psychiatrists may even support it. But by and large, they don’t. And the plastic surgery you mention that went on throughout history, was part of the Egyptian queen and mummie era where nefratiti and some other goddesses underwent it as part of an intrinsic part of their spiritual and regal beliefs. I suppose you could also say that our aboriginal culture uses it when they pierce their noses. But it has not been a part of bonefide Western Medicine and you cannot bring the beliefs of other cultures into an argument with Westerners who are so removed from that ancient part of history as to make it irrelevant. In your defence of these two surgeons, it would be really good, especially since you don’t like the unsubtantiated segment on 60 minutes, if you could offer your evidence for the fact that this story of Tara Brown’s was full of misinformation and inaccurate fact finding. Because you are accusing the other bloggers here of swallowing a whole lot of half baked truths, so where, precisely are they? Do you believe that neither one of these doctor’s acted unprofessionally? Do you believe the family of Lauren is exaggerating? What about Kerry Mullins? Is she exaggerating her pain? What is it Jacinta, that you really see? And where is YOUR evidence? Perhaps you just cannot bear to believe that these things really happened to these women, in the way they have been described.
PS: Jacinta, you mention how these noble plastic surgeons spend a lot of time fixing the botched jobs of other less qualified surgeons. What do you think might have gone through the minds of the surgeons at the Austin hospital who had to perform 22 operations on Kerry Mullins, cutting away at her breasts, bit, by bit by bit- in order to save her life. They would have known that they were deforming her further, out of sheer necessity.
I can’t imagine they would have shared your admiration for Dr. Ritz, “member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons”. The training, experience and “status” of the doctors you so seriously defend, Jacinta, merely make their level of negligence even less acceptable.
Yes, Ms. Jacinta, plastic surgery can be very beneficial if people go for the “right’ reasons. The “right” reasons must include informed consent. Kerry Mullins did not have that basic right given to her. You state that these surgeons always weigh up the risks and explain them to their patients. Dr. Ritz made it sound like ‘no big deal’ to Ms. Mullins. Unless of course you think she’s lying. And I’ll tell you something Jacinta- there is no way that either of these doctors’ names would have been mentioned if Network 9’s savage bunch of lawyers had not made sure that the details were TRUE and legal. They would never permit a member of the public to go on their show without knowing the facts. So, whatever pedestal you feel the need to put these “highly qualified” surgeons on, you are very misguided if you think that the women who comment here, are believing a whole lot of nonsense and putting these doctors unfairly on “trial”. They have had their “trials”. The coroner found Lauren’s surgeon guilty of negligence and the fact that Kerry Mullins won an out of court settlement means that Dr. Morris RItz was most definitely guilty of negligence. I’m not sure what type of journalism you’ve been involved with for 30 years, but you are very naive, I hate to say. Of course Dr. RItz has been the subject of other out of court settlments in the past. Most out of court settlements involve a confidentiality clause that the plaintiff signs, that states they won’t ever mention the amount, or the doctor’s name. Clearly Kerry Mullins did not sign to never mention the doctor’s name or she wouldn’t have done so, and network nine would have run through all of that with its legal team in great details. Yes, tabloid TV can involve a result where people are unfairly judged by the media, but not in cases like this one, when the “trials” (for want of a better word) have already been undertaken. Of course Four Corners would have presented the cases differently. They would have dug a lot deeper and made the surgeons far more accountable. But they would not have come to any other conclusion than the one come to by sixty minutes in terms of the implication of both surgeons in the tragic outcomes on both these women.Jacinta, what’s wrong with you? It’s 2010. Surely you cannot be THAT impressed by a surgeons qualifications and “club” membership to not believe the facts that are right in front of your eyes, when you watch the 60 minutes segment. The fact that these two surgeons are not GPs with a bit of extra training, but fully trained plastic/reconstructive surgeons- does not “excuse” them from their shocking level of negligence and malpractice. It really should make someone like “you” – with your 30 years in journalism and beauty, come down on them all the harder! What exactly are you trying to say? That their “qualifications’ somehow place them above the law? Place them above the need to offer full and proper care- before, during and after – and especially “after”. And neither of these men offerered that. No doubt they feel terrible. No doctor would want such things to happen to their patients. But they don’t feel nearly as bad as Lauren’s parents, boyfriend and other friends, or Kerry Mullins, her husband and her five traumatised children. Their qualifications don’t mean that these events did not happen precisely as they occured. You should really look at what you’ve written and think about offering some kind of apology to Lauren’s family and to Kerry Mullins, in the event that they ever read what you’ve written. What you’ve written is nothing other than a statement that refuses to believe that the 60 minutes story was based on fact, because such “wonderful” men could not possibly be guilty of such actions. It’s often the better trained plastic/cosmetic surgeons that simply take way too many patients. They charge a fortune Jacinta. Their incomes are closer to those of the CEO’s of major international multinationals than those of doctors. They don’t need all that money. I will believe your childlike belief in their integrity and care for their patients, when they begin to limit the number of patients they take, lower their costs, and really take care of the patients they take on. You can’t care for anyone when you don’t have the time. These patients deserve the full attention of their surgeon prior, during and after the operations. And Lauren and Kerry did not get this, and other women have every reason- every reason in the world, to feel very very sad and very angry about the “cheap” consideration that is so often applied to women and their bodies.
I think the sad thing is only the fact that the professor did not mention that these two surgeons do have the highest level of training. While everyone is out to regulate the industry (and rightly so) – in order that GP’s can’t perform invasive procedures for which they may not have adequate skills, let’s not foget that two highly qualified reconstructive/plastic surgeons entirely failed their patients and breached their duty of care. This means that these reconstructive/plastic surgeons have far less excuse than their less trained counterparts to engage in this kind of disturbing behaviour. This is hardly the time to be defending them on the basis of their training! If a judge, for example, commits perjury, this is considered far more serious than a law clerk who engages in perjury. It appears that Jacinta somehow believes that these surgeons ought to be revered, regardless of their malpractice and I’m not sure that I understand that kind of logic at all. Unless of course Jacinta believes that two men with such high credentials could not possibly have been responsible for such tragic consequences. Well, I hate to break it to you Jacinta, they are most definitely responsible, and their rank in medicine does not pardon them one bit in medical malpractice cases.
I am replying to Jacinta’s accusations against the other women who have commented on this site. As a lawyer who works in medical indemnity insurance, I can inform everyone that the insurance companies do not pay unless they REALLY have to. For Kerry Mullins to have won an out of court settlement with Dr. Ritz, and for her to speak as she did on sixtyminutes, he most definitely was found guilty of malpractice of some kind, and it is obvious that there were expert witnesses involved in the case who stated that the procedures should have been done separately. Yes, tabloid journalism can be sensationalist, but Jacinta is the only person in this instance who is making false assumptions and accusations. Also, the fact that one hundred emperical articles have been written about the benefits of plastic/cosmetic surgery, doesn’t mean a thing. In such a large industry, that is as significant as one piece of sand on a beach. Especially, if, given your statement that Plastic/Cosemtic surgery has been around for thousands of years! Yes, it has, in various forms, and within exceptionally different cultures, however the kind of plastic/cosmetic surgery we have around today has never existed before, and has most definitely not been as widely accessible as it is now, in the entire history of the planet! I have nothing against it, personally, IF the person having it, is given her/his full, free and informed consent, which MUST include the very best and the very WORST scenario, and ONLY when and if 100% immaculate after care is given, even if it is not deemed necessary! Also, while there are no doubt many cases where, as Jacinta points out, people benefit from cosmetic surgery, it really is not “medicine” within the traditional meaning of the word. The person is not “ill” when they go to in for purely cosmetic work. Therefore, the entire practise should really come under commercial law. If it did, then patients would also get the right amount of compensation when things went wrong. That is because, the compensation would be based, not only on the amount of pain and suffering etc… but also on the turnover and profit margin of the company’s. Many plastic/cosmetic surgeons run company’s with incomes that more closely resemble major multinationals than medicos, even others in private practice. I don’t know what kind of compensation Lauren’s family and/or boyfriend might get, but I do know that the loss of a breast is capped in the four hundred thousand dollar region. Perhaps that is “reasonable” in a public hospital case where a woman already has a “condition” such as breast cancer. However, when a perfectly well woman, goes to a “doctor” and comes out minus a breast and seriously disfigured in other ways, she should be viewed as a client, and not as a “patient” and the doctor, when he does cosmetic work, should be seeen as a corporation, especially when he runs one. Kerry Mullins should really receive something like thirty million dollars, if it were based on the wealth of her surgeon, who is a partnet in the business he runs. However, instaed, she has been given an insultingly low compensation, despite having the best medical negligence lawyer in Melbourne, who no doubt go her the maximum amount possible. I think that what the professor was pointing out is that our “definition” of what cosmetic surgery reallyt “is”, is confusing for most people. It is confusing for the law, for medical boards, and for our entire society. It may be performed by doctors, but it is not “medicine”, which is the art and science of healing, because the “patient” is not “sick” to begin with. Therefore, when performing cosmetic procedures, doctors should be covered under commercial law, and “patients” should be called “customers”. or “consumers”. It is very wrong that Kerry Mullins’s breast and body is compensated under medical insuracne, because it simply does not offer anything like the amount of money she really should receive. I am looking at getting out of this area of the law, because I don’t feel comfortable with the level of protection for the doctor which is often viewed much higher than the protection of the patient, who has to go to extraordinary lengths to prove negligence, and often be subjected to ruthless questioning. The only legal team more ruthless than a medico-legal one, would be that employed by Rupert Murdoch, who owns Channel 9, which runs sixty minutes. That story would have gone through network nine’s most experienced lawyers wtih one thousand fine tooth combs, before it went to air. So, Jacinta, I am sorry to state, that in this instance, you are wrong. As for the “beacon of light” you view the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons as; why haven’t they taken these surgeons off their register, or at the very least suspended them for a period of time? What about our fine new national medical board? It may be the case, as you say Jacinta, that many women are also now plastic surgeons, (but not in Australia, as there are only a handful here!), but it is going to take the loss of a few penises before “medicine” and/or “law” really protect those who undergo cosmetic surgery. RIght now, a woman’s breast just isn’t worth much to men like these ones. After all, Dr. Morris Ritz told Kerry Mullins to stop breast-feeding her baby to have cosmetic breast implants within two weeks of her consulting him! That says it all, as far as I am concerned. The professions of law and medicine are completely and utterly governed by a patriarchal system, and despite the number of women now in these professions, we have a longg long way to go to catch up! Don’t be so hard on your own sex, Jacinta. We are not living in an equal world yet.