"Is your younger teenage daughter struggling with low self-esteem because her breasts aren’t developing fast enough?", asks Mountain View's Dr. Rosenberg in a self-penned advertorial pushing breast augmentations for girls He gives advice, much of it self-serving naturally, like the importance of a plastic surgeon being board certified. But beyond simply promoting the idea of breast augs for girls, he does fail to mention one thing. The FDA does not indicate the use of implants for kids, unless to correct congenital defects.
Cosmetic surgery practices regularly go "off-label" when it comes to FDA indications. Botox is regularly used beyond the "frown area" it is indicated for. Cocktails of drugs are injected in unapproved ways for fat loss "mesotherapy" or its tradenamed derivative LipoDissolve. Few practitioners publicize this. None mention it in their print advertising. And cosmetic surgery propaganda is clearly just that. Take this clinic's reassurance regarding the mesotherapy cocktail:
While all cocktail ingredients are individually FDA approved, the use of a combination of them is a so-called "off-label" procedure. Each practitioner is using slightly different mixtures. Our solution medications are purchased from highly reputable pharmacies. Off-label use of medication is common.
Would you have guessed from this information that mesotherapy has already been banned and Kansas, is likely to be banned in Nebraska and has already been regulated in Brasil?
If print advertising for pharmaceutical products must include all information we've become used to on indicated use and side effects, shouldn't regulations also apply to print advertising for procedures relying on Botox, Restylane and breast implants?
Comments