Buyers of Beauty Beware
An investigation into Australia's cosmetic surgery industry
As Four Corners reports, authorities have little idea about what operations are being performed, where, when, how well or how badly and by whom. And there is a dearth of information about the long-term health effects of some procedures like liposuction.
ABC's Jonathan Holmes follows patients through surgery and takes cameras into operating rooms and asks how safe are the consumers in this largely unchecked industry, and how qualified are the doctors whose services they buy.
From marginal to mainstream, once furtive but now flaunted, cosmetic surgery is being eagerly explored by Australians from teens to pensioners, female and male.
Across the country tens of thousands of cosmetic procedures -- from basic Botox jabs to complex surgery - are performed in day theatres and doctor's rooms each year.
"A lot of people like to renovate their house and decorate. I like to renovate me," attests Joan Wilkinson, one of the growing army of enhancement enthusiasts.
Riding this craze is a new breed of entrepreneurial doctor, buoyed by TV's rash of makeover shows, easier rules for medical advertising and alluring websites.
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