Docs get smacked
I am not a dermatologist. I never went to medical school. I respect those who have.
But often, I find that the skills of people like me—a licensed skin therapist—are perceived as second-tier when it comes to knowing about the skin. Not true. Most dermatologists don’t cleanse the skin, touch the skin, apply treatment products or do a non-surgical extraction. Yet these are routine skills which are the skin therapist’s bread-and-butter.
And another thing: some dermatologists get the Big Eye when they see how much money there is to be made in so-called “vanity” procedures. I’m in favor of people doing whatever they want to themselves in order to feel fierce, frisky and fabulous. But it’s unnerving when trusted MDs compromise their professional ethics by promoting new products in which they have a vested interest, even before these products are approved by the FDA.
That’s exactly what happened to Dr. Lesley Baumann of Miami Beach, at the beginning of the new year. She was holding forth about the benefits of Dysport, an injectable intended to erase the “worry furrow” between the brows, even though the drug hadn’t been approved by the FDA. And she got a well-deserved spanking from the Feds for jumping the gun. Naughty, naughty Dr. B!
I think the message is clear: don’t be blinded by the dazzling white of the lab-coat. Yes, doctors are usually smart people. But like all of us, they can get greedy, and this may put the consumer at risk in the process.