Griffiths Danielle, Mullock Alex
School of Law, University of Sussex, Sussex, UK.
School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Health Care Anal. 2018 Sep;26(3):220-234. doi: 10.1007/s10728-017-0339-5.
The market for cosmetic surgery tourism is growing with an increase in people travelling abroad for cosmetic surgery. While the reasons for seeking cosmetic surgery abroad may vary the most common reason is financial, but does cheaper surgery abroad carry greater risks? We explore the risks of poorly regulated cosmetic surgery to society generally before discussing how harm might be magnified in the context of cosmetic tourism, where the demand for cheaper surgery drives the market and makes surgery accessible for increasing numbers of people. This contributes to the normalisation of surgical enhancement, creating unhealthy cultural pressure to undergo invasive and risky procedures in the name of beauty. In addressing the harms of poorly regulated surgery, a number of organisations purport to provide a register of safe and ethical plastic surgeons, yet this arguably achieves little and in the absence of improved regulation the risks are likely to grow as the global market expands to meet demand. While the evidence suggests that global regulation is needed, the paper concludes that since a global regulatory response is unlikely, more robust domestic regulation may be the best approach. While domestic regulation may increase the drive towards foreign providers it may also have a symbolic effect which will reduce this drive by making people more aware of the dangers of surgery, both to society and individual physical wellbeing.
随着出国进行整容手术的人数增加，整容手术旅游市场不断发展。虽然出国寻求整容手术的原因可能各不相同，但最常见的原因是费用问题，然而在国外做更便宜的手术是否会带来更大风险呢？在讨论在整容旅游背景下伤害如何可能被放大之前，我们先总体探讨一下监管不力的整容手术对社会的风险。在整容旅游中，对更便宜手术的需求推动了市场，使越来越多的人能够接受手术。这促使手术美容常态化，营造了一种不健康的文化压力，让人们以美的名义接受侵入性和有风险的手术。在应对监管不力的手术所带来的危害时，一些组织声称要提供安全且符合道德规范的整形外科医生名录，但这可能收效甚微。而且在缺乏更好监管的情况下，随着全球市场为满足需求而扩张，风险可能会增加。虽然有证据表明需要全球监管，但本文得出的结论是，由于不太可能有全球监管回应，更有力的国内监管可能是最佳办法。虽然国内监管可能会促使人们更多地选择国外的医疗服务提供者，但它也可能会产生一种象征效应，通过让人们更加意识到手术对社会和个人身体健康的危害，从而减少这种趋势。
