Ethical Considerations
Plastic surgeons have taken social media as a platform to advertise their work. Having patients on social media helps them reach more potential clients.
Many ethical questions about plastic surgery surface in societies where
it has become popular and on the rise. In societies where beauty
standards, celebrity culture and body image are an issue, several
ethical considerations are:
- Patient autonomy vs informed consent: Patients have the right to alter their body, but they need to be informed of all the medical risks involved. Yet, most of the time commercial clinics and plastic surgeons downplay the risks and complications to the patient to increase their sales and profit over the patient’s autonomy.
- Age and vulnerability: Young patients usually lack maturity to take long-term decisions to alter their bodies. Their decisions are solely based on social influence and pressure, which may change and cause them to regret their decisions later in their lifetime.
- Normalization of beauty ideals: social media and influencers promote an idealized beauty image which pushes individuals to perform plastic surgery to fit in the narrow beauty norms created, reinforcing harmful stereotypes about beauty and body image.
- Economic and social equity: Plastic surgeries are expensive, causing division in society as to patients who can afford it vs patients who can’t.