Thursday, March 11, 2010
The U.S. military keeps plastic surgeons on the payroll to help restore those soldiers badly wounded during their service. But in some cases the doctors are performing cosmetic surgeries and letting the government pay for it.
According to Stars and Stripes, a defense audit discovered “that military doctors were regularly performing breast augmentations, tummy tucks, liposuction and other purely cosmetic surgery without always charging patients as required.”
In order to keep their skills current, military doctors are allowed to perform cosmetic surgery…but only if the patient pays. However, the audit found that no billing information could be found for procedures deemed cosmetic in 73% of cases reviewed, and that 16% of surgeries deemed reconstructive were actually cosmetic.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Nip and Tuck ... Sometimes on the Military's Buck (by Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes)
All That You Can Be (by Karen Schaler, New Yorker)
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