Introduction
More and more teenagers are seeking plastic surgeries in the United States and professionals believe that it stems from a lack of self-esteem and pressure from the media. These two factors affect the development of young people and prevent them from becoming healthy and confident adults. In this paper, I will argue that it is unethical to allow teenagers to pursue cosmetic plastic surgery because they are not mature enough to make informed and well-grounded decisions on their own. Furthermore, plastic surgery does not improve a young person’s self-esteem and can cause permanent harm to their body. A way to ensure that teenagers are mature enough to make decisions about plastic surgery is to screen potential patients, using psychological testing as well as a therapeutic approach through counseling and mental health screenings. Better screening for patients will be the best to determine a better course of action based on informed consent. Because teenagers are not mature enough and parents’ motives can be suspect when making these choices for them, plastic surgeons need to implement better screening processes for both patients and parents. Having a better screening process will help doctors adhere to the principle of beneficence and promote the welfare of their patients.
Case Study
In 2013, 18-year-old Linda Perez, from Miami, Florida, was scheduled for a breast augmentation. She entered the clinic for what should have been a routine hour-long operation, but minutes after the surgery, she experienced breathing difficulties, and her heart rate and blood pressure dropped drastically so that she went into a coma from the anesthesia. Shortly after, she was rushed to a nearby hospital where she fought for her life in a vegetative state. Although it was supposed to be a simple breast augmentation, the surgery nearly killed her because she suffered severe brain damage because of a lack of oxygen. Linda survived, but she became a paraplegic as a result of the surgery. Although Perez was 18 years old, she withheld important information from her surgeon, information about her medical history that would have caused her doctor to reconsider the decision regarding plastic surgery. In particular, it was stated that she had issues with anesthesia during the birth of her son; however, this information was concealed by Perez to keep the physician from calling off the surgery.
Ethical Conflict
If there was a more in-depth screening process, then Perez’s surgeon would have caught the mistake and been able to act in her best interest. According to the Principle of Beneficence, “we must act in ways that promote the welfare of other people” (Munson & Lague, 2017, p. 935). Physicians, such as the one who worked on Perez, must do everything possible to help individuals but not to harm them. In this way, physicians should follow the Principle of Beneficence because they must act for the sake of the patient’s welfare. Thus, if the physician who performed the breast argumentation surgery on Perez had taken enough time to do an evaluation, assess her maturity level, and go over the informed consent in depth, she might be living her life to the fullest capacity today instead of being paralyzed from the neck down.
Author’s Resolution
Dr. York Yates, a Salt Lake City plastic surgeon, states that young patients are not mature enough to make these decisions for themselves. Yates says that “The frontal lobe of the brain does not fully develop until the 20s to 30s” (Weatherby, 2015, para. 2-3), showing that young patients are not mature enough to make these decisions.
It is important to consider if teenagers can make moral decisions when it comes to cosmetic surgery. “According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 130,000 cosmetic procedures were performed on people under the age of 18 in 2014. ‘This is controversial,’ says Salt Lake City plastic surgeon Dr. York Yates, revealing that issues at play include the patient’s maturity level and decision-making ability. ‘The frontal lobe of the brain does not fully develop until the 20s to 30s,’ Dr. Yates adds. ‘This portion of the brain controls decision making, impulsiveness, and understanding consequences…The reasons a teen may want plastic surgery can be questionable. Fitting in or wanting to look like a specific air-brushed celebrity aren’t good reasons to pursue plastic surgery. This is a time of self-discovery, not self-alteration’” (Weatherby, 2015, para. 2-3).
Counterpoint
As it was already mentioned, the Principle of Beneficence emphasizes the fact that professionals are to do their best in order to improve the welfare of the general population (Munson & Lague, 2017). However, Dr. Glat has a different point of view, as he believes he is a proponent of plastic surgery for the right teen. He explains that the right teen for him is mature enough to make this decision, has realistic expectations, and is doing it for the right reason. In contrast, the wrong reason would be, “my boyfriend broke up with me and I’d like bigger breasts” (Fertman, 2005, para. 28). “’Well, that doesn’t work,’ says Dr. Glat. ‘But if they need to have something done when there is nothing more they can do to feel better about themselves, it’s appropriate” (Fertman, 2005, para. 28). In contrast to Yates, Glat thinks that there are many benefits for teenagers to have plastic surgery. Glat says that plastic surgery “can increase self-image, which results in increased self-confidence” (Fertman, 2005, para. 28). Glat thinks that this surgery can be life-changing. He says that surgery “can change their lives. They feel they can do things they never considered before. It can just make you more comfortable to date, make new friends, or find a job you have never gone after” (Fertman, 2005, para. 28).
Resolution and Support
Although Glat’s view is a popular one, it overlooks the fact that we deal with adolescent teenagers with different life experiences. Even though they can think like adults, they tend to behave like children. Parents should not allow their kids to make decisions regarding surgeries that are not medically related. What might seem like the right decision for a teenager could prove the wrong choice later in life.
Unfortunately, there are no specific laws in the United States that prevent teenagers from getting cosmetic surgeries. However, parental consent is required for patients under the age of 18, which means that the responsibility falls to parents to help their children make the right decision. At times, I wonder if the parent can make the decision for their child. Maybe those parents who live through their kids experienced some insecurities and school problems that made them incapable of deciding not to have plastic surgery. Rita Freedman, a psychologist, believes that parents, not teenagers, often want the surgery because they feel insecure about their child’s appearance. Sometimes, a child reminds a parent of himself or herself at that stage and the problems they faced or maybe the nose they had fixed. Janice Styer, a therapist at the Caron Foundation in Philadelphia, argues that often a teen who chooses plastic surgery comes from a family, in which appearance is over empathized. “More and more, mothers are putting pressures on their daughters to be perfect even if it takes surgery and with so many moms these days getting nipped and tucked themselves, teens are much more likely to think it is OK for them to do it” (Fertman, 2005, para. 10).
In order to surgeons to act in the best welfare of their young patients, they need to set up a screening process for parents as well. Parents often act in their own interests instead of the child’s interest. For example, Figure 2 shows images of Kim Zolziack and her daughter from the popular reality show, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, before and after they had several cosmetic procedures to enhance their beauty. This reveals that there are mothers who seek any means necessary to make their child a star. Parents want their children to be like Kylie Jenner because they think that she is successful due to plastic surgery.
Conclusion
If young people and their parents can support the idea of plastic surgery unreasonably, doctors should have an opportunity to make such decisions. Fertman (2005) emphasizes the fact that doctors are ordinary human beings who may make mistakes, revealing a situation when a physician failed to link patient’s illness to the implants. Clients can approach doctors asking them for advice, but they should remember that doctors are the ones responsible for the client’s health. Having proper education and years of experience, professionals can make reasonable decisions regarding the interventions one requires. However, plastic surgery usually deals only with cosmetic issues that do not affect people’s health. In this way, doctors can share their opinion regarding the necessity of the surgery and its scope, providing a rationale, but they cannot make a decision instead of the patient. In a case of teenagers, it is them and their parents who should tell what to do. Still, eventually, all three parties are in charge of the outcomes. Weatherby (2015) states that physicians are free to refuse to maintain a surgery and decline a person as a patient if they feel uncomfortable when working with him/her. In this way, they can avoid unnecessary surgeries and related issues. However, many professionals make plastic surgeries their business and encourage everyone to try them. Thus, teenagers and their parents should be mindful of any interventions to avoid adverse outcomes that can hardly be anticipated.
References
Munson, R., & Lague, I. (2017). Intervention and reflection: Basic issues in medical ethics. Wadsworth, OH: Cengage Learning.
Weatherby, J. (2015). Should parents let their teenage children get plastic surgery? Web.