Introduction: The desire to look attractive is universal. There are always numerous people who are dissatisfied with their own natural appearances. Therefore, a totally new kind of operation was emerged. Cosmetic surgery, which is also known as aesthetic surgery, has become a trend partly because we are living in the age of pursuing external appearance and partly because the medical technology has been developed to satisfy the demands, which apart from treatment. Most people, however, are still unconscious of aesthetic surgery.
In order to help readers to understand cosmetic surgery, this article will define cosmetic surgery, explain why it should be personal funded, and suggested that the patients’ rights be protected. Body: Plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery are similar to some extent, but actually they are not absolutely same. In general, plastic surgery contains cosmetic surgery and reconstructive surgery. Reconstructive surgery should be viewed as “medically necessary”, for it is done in order to restore damaged areas of the body surface which were probably be caused by accidents.
In contrast, aesthetic surgery can not be considered as “medically necessary”, because its main purpose is to improve the appearance and it does not save people’s lives. Another understanding about plastic surgery is that “ it is completely different from cosmetic surgery, for the plastic surgery aims to repair and improve injured appearance. ”. (Nordqvist, 2009,1) It is obvious to see that this opinion regards plastic surgery as reconstructive surgery absolutely. These definitions is actually helpful for health insurance institution to determine whether the surgery should be included in insurance, which will be explained later.
The question remains “Whether cosmetic surgery is a branch of medicine or not? ” has been a bone of contention in the past few years. In fact, aesthetic surgery is just ordinary medicine. The first evidence is the same requirement for all kinds of surgery. Surgeons who operate cosmetic surgery are required to manage the specialized knowledge, have skillful technique, and so forth, which is absolutely similar to the ordinary surgery. Secondly, It is acknowledged that all kinds of surgery are risky.
“Even though the healthy take medical risks is a morally different proposition from the ill take the equal risks, they are all same in essential. ”. (Gordijn and Chadwick, 2008,156) In addition, a group of people, who completely separate cosmetic surgery and medicine, think that cosmetic surgery has no therapeutic benefits. In fact, no one is able to prove that aesthetic surgery has no therapeutic side effects at all, for the influence caused by any kinds of surgeries can not be absolutely certain until the surgery finish. Cosmetic surgery should not be included in the medical insurance.
Before listing those sample and acceptable reasons, there is an example from the Insurance Claims Complaints Bureau (ICCB) would be shared. The case is that an insured accepted an operation in a hospital in order to remove the excess soft tissue and striae which caused by his losing weight. After 3 days, the man left the hospital and asked his medical insurance company to pay the operation insurance fee. Nevertheless, the medical insurance company rejected the claim even though the doctor had proved that this surgery was not aesthetic surgery.
The company explained that his operation can no be considered as medically necessary, but rather just for improving appearance. Therefore, the surgery was cosmetic or elective surgery in essential. The insured, however, did not agree with the medical insurance company, so he then submitted his case to the ICCB. The result was that the ICCB supported the insurer’s explanation and the man failed to get his benefits. By this case, it is clear to understand why there are few public healthy system which cover cosmetic surgery costs.
The medical insurance do not covered the surgery which is not related to medical necessary such as illness and injury. In addition, customers should learn the relative regulations of medical insurance and inform the insurers before accepting operations, so that the arguments between clients and medical insurance companies could be prevented to some extent. Hundreds of cases, which cosmetic procedures aggress upon consumers’ right, took place with the booming demands for cosmetic surgery. For instance, “some private cosmetic hospitals in United Kingdom provided potentially dangerous cosmetic treatments.
”. (Hoskins, 2012,1) On the other hand, the law system of cosmetic surgery is not complete as the cosmetic industry just has emerge recently. To solve the problem, governments need to enact relevant legal regulations and carry them out as soon as possible. Furthermore, what is more effective to avoid the illegal aesthetic surgery is to improve self discriminating ability. Be careful not to fall prey to the cheap cosmetic operation advertisement, for “there are mass of examples about those people, who were attracted to the low price, resulted in dangerous infection or death. ”.
(Hoskins,1) As cosmetic producers, take responsibility for patients’ health should be no denying. Meanwhile, the profit motive can never be considered as the purpose of medical treatment. Conclusion: In conclusion, the real beauty of a person lies in what he/she is, not in how he/she looks like. A comely face may impress others at the first meeting. For example, a study shows that beautiful people may keep more odds to get the job than others who have the same working ability in interviews. Unluckily, aesthetic fatigue is human’s nature. There are men who has been successful in the company without apparent benefits.
In fact, personality plays a significant role in the necessary element for popularity rather than a beauty face, which also means the weakness of appearance can be fixed by the nice character. Therefore, people should not be self-abased for their imperfect appearance. However, it does not mean that cosmetic surgery is totally useless. The advantage of appearance can also lead to confidence, which means that aesthetic surgery is also a tool for improving self-confidence. Therefore, please remember that people who believe in themselves are gorgeous. Reference 1.
Christian, Nordqvist. What Is Cosmetic Surgery? What Is Plastic Surgery? Medical News Today; 2009,1. Website:http :// www. Medical news today. com/ articles/ 155757. php Accessed: 27 December, 2013 2. Definition of Cosmetic or Plastic Surgery. MSIG HK. 1. Website: http:// www. Msig. Com. hk/ insights/ uips_detail. asp? productid= health&detailid= 3544 Accessed: 27 December, 2013 3. Gordijn Bert and Ruth F. Chadwick. Medical Enhancement and Posthumanity. Cardiff: Springer Science and Business Media, 2008, 156-157. Website:http:// Books. Google. Com. hk/ books?
IdfdMlZol7W2YC &printsec= frontcover&hl= zh-CN&source= gbs_ ge_ summary_ r&cad= 0#v=onepage&q&f=false Accessed: 27 December, 2013 4. Hoskins, Quin. Legal Regulation for Cosmetic Surgeries. The Legal Secretary Journal. DEDICATED. 2012, 1. Website: http:// www. Legalsecretaryjournal. com/? q= cosmetic-surgery-law Accessed: 27 December, 2013 5. Odunze, Milicent, What is the Difference Between A Plastic Surgeon and Cosmetic Surgeon? About. com. 2012,1. Website:http://plasticsurgery. about. com/od/findtherightsurgeon/a/ What-Is-The-Difference-Between-A-Plastic-Surgeon-And-A- Cosmetic-Surgeon. htm Accessed:27 December, 2013.