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Plastic Surgeons & Cosmetic Dermatologists Gone Wild!

Visit Medical Spa MD’s plastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology forums and you’ll step into an unlikely brouhaha that’s more than just uncommon in cosmetic dermatology and plastic surgery circles, it’s unheard of.

Frustrated by what a growing number of cosmetic surgeons see as an wall of silence and infuriating lack of support from cosmetic laser and IPL manufacturers, these doctors have taken their anger public in a kind of free-for-all gang-bang that you don’t usually see from plastic surgeons. A public riot where ‘names are named’ and fingers are pointed directly at identified individuals that populate the management teams of prominent cosmetic laser and IPL companies.

In some cases entire strings of emails are published detailing conversations (or lack thereof) and publicly embarrassing top executives and even fellow plastic surgeons that are acting as luminaries. It’s as though the plastic surgeons have now decided to play hard ball really hard.

Of course there’s still some self preservation and common sense left. Many of the cosmetic dermatologists comments that are left come from anonymous doctors and the web sites that host these forums generally try to protect the plastic surgeons from hidden reprisals.

The sites hosting these cosmetic surgeons forums have had some public headaches of their own. Medical Spa MD, the webs most prominent forum for physicians in cosmetic medicine has been served with letters and threats from lawyers for daring to make these forum discussions public. So far it hasn’t worked.

“We’ve received a number of nasty-grams”, says the publisher of Medical Spa MD, “but censoring public discourse between physicians is not what forums are about. The physicians on the site are directly responsible for what they post and commenting that their opinion is that they’re not receiving sufficient support from the cosmetic laser companies is just that, their opinion.”

The issues are increasingly complicated by the types of medical answers that the most vocal of the plastic surgeons are demanding, leaving the IPL and laser companies in the uncomfortable position of seeming to be ignoring their cosmetic surgeons as customers, or providing information for cosmetic medical treatments that could easily be considered off-label use by the FDA, creating a potential for hazardous liability claims from patients and as well as the very physicians who are demanding answers.

The topic is not likely to go away soon. Information that’s disseminated publicly on the web has a long shelf life and it’s obvious that technology companies are now taking notice. In some cases laser companies have actively joined in the discussion forums and proactively address concerns of individuals as soon as they’re posted, leaving an impression of healthy and proactive customer support. These tactics seem to be working. The IPL and laser manufactures who are active have a much lower incidence of negative comments from cosmetic surgeons who see their calls for support go unanswered.

In the end it will come down to market demands. Many plastic surgeons who are opening new cosmetic medical clinics and investigating IPL and laser technology are finding their way into these forums and asking their more experienced peers for advice. IPL and laser manufacturers who aren’t part of the discussion can’t expect to win the propaganda wars.

SwitchMD.com is a cosmetic medical spa community of plastic surgeons, dermatologists, laser clinics and medspas with more than 5,000 physician members and hosts the most active physician discussion forums on laser treatments and non-surgical cosmetic medical technologies.

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