Krista Stryland and A Disgusting Media
First of all let me start this post by saying that I hate cosmetic surgery. I like my food natural and my women pretty much the same way. So this article is by no means a defence of that industry.
However, the only thing that I hate even more than cosmetic surgery is the mainstream media. Your average Penciltrick reader is usually a little bit smarter than the average person but I followed the coverage of Krista Stryland. The way the media completely attacked the Toronto Cosmetic Clinic that performed the surgery would leave anyone in a daze of confusion and anger. It was blatant emotional manipulation just so they could get some mileage out of a story with an emotional connection in a current and popular industry.
Those familiar with the documentary outlining the dispicable practices at Fox News, will have recognized many of the same practices here. It disturbs me to see how orchestrated the whole propaganda campaign was. I thought the mainstream media in Canada would be a bit better but CTV set a new low for Canadians. The same tactics shown on Outfoxed were used by CTV. The rolling of the eyes when saying statements. The use of “people say” or “it has been reported that…”, are all there in their coverage.
My favourite was when they had one of the plastic surgeons state that a woman had liposuction done on her legs by an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. The reporter repeating “by an ear nose and throat?” with utter shock and disbelief as if it was one of the most ridiculous things she’d ever heard of. Or one time they said that the doctor was not “certified”. What does that mean exactly? Is the government now allowing doctors to practice without a license? Of course not. Nobody took the Toronto Cosmetic Clinic doctor away in handcuffs or anything. When you dig into it of course they mean not certified as a “Plastic Surgeon”. But they sure loved making it look as if it was just some hack off the street doing surgeries with a coat hanger.
So lets stop for a second. They’re telling me that a doctor who works with something as intricate as the ear and throat which are located closest to the human brain can’t be trained to suck a little fat out of people’s legs with a big stick? A procedure, which by the plastic surgeon’s own admission, has some of the lowest complication rates of any cosmetic surgery procedure? Come on, who are they kidding? It’s insulting to all our intelligence and makes me personally sick. I’m surprised doctors are not insulted by this. We’ll, one physician must be because he put out a press release about it. You’ll find it below.
The “Plastic Surgeons” are pushing to have a monopoly over cosmetic surgery procedures such as liposuction and breast augmentation because they make a disgusting amount of money on it. They don’t want other doctors doing it because as we all know, the laws of supply and demand would allow them to charge even more.
This whole thing is obviously driven by money. I find it strange that while all the other news stations covered the incident in passing, CTV had at least 5 different videos on their site concerning the death. I wish I knew who was sleeping with who at CTV because either sex or money is involved in this by the looks of it.
The plastic surgeons want us to believe that they are the only ones who should be allowed to do cosmetic surgery. Only them and no other doctors. Does that make sense?
Before you get to the long press release which makes some more informed statements than I can, let me leave you with this; why is it that a surgeon who can deliver a human life through a Caesarean section, or one that can give someone a new heart, should not be allowed to put in a new set of titties? Surgeries which when I looked into them were much less complicated than the aforementioned ones.
I wrote this article out of frustration. We have laws for everything under the sun but nobody has a law that forces the media to give both sides of a story. They’re allowed to inflame the public and ruin people without any checks. I’m not saying that we should control the media but not forcing them to give a true and accurate account of events leaves them with way too much power. All I’m asking is for honesty. Nothing else. Isn’t that what the media should be rather than shill for various special interest groups?
That’s about the end of what I have to say on this so have a read below if you’re interested further.
As always. Thanks for reading.
Let’s listen to Gore
Not Al Gore but Stan Gore instead. He makes some god points in his press release:
On Sept. 20, 2007, Krista Stryland, a lovely, vibrant, 32 year old professional woman, tragically went into cardiac arrest immediately following a liposuction procedure. Peri-operative death in cosmetic surgery in general, and liposuction surgery in particular, is such a rare occurrence that the knee-jerk reaction is to assume that someone caused it. The focus right now is on who caused the death, rather than on what caused it. Let’s stand back and examine the whats first.
The whats, or established causes of death in liposuction surgery comprise
(i) a blood clot or a piece of dislodged fat traveling to the lungs (instrumentation),
(ii) malignant hyperthermia reaction (genetic),
(iii) anirregular heart rhythm, usually ventricular fibrillation (from either pre-existing heart dysfunction or damage or from a reaction to intraoperative medications),
(iv) congestive heart failure (intraoperative fluid overload),
(v) heart attack (a random and totally unpredictable event). A new, unexplored, potential cause of death is a bolus of liquefied fat and cellular debris – arising from the use of devices which burst fat cells and liquefy fat prior to suctioning – traveling to heart or lungs.The whos, or contributing factors include: (i) the patient’s underlying physical status (pre-existing organ damage or dysfunction), (ii) medical acts of commission or omission by the surgeon and/or anaesthetist prior to cardiac
arrest, (iii) medical acts of commission or omission by the surgeon and/or anaesthetist immediately following cardiac arrest. (These medical acts could range from errors in judgment – which happens to most doctors during their
careers – to medical negligence – falling below the accepted standard of care).An intra-operative death can occur in the hands of any doctor, no matter how skilled or experienced. I will never forget a day during my anaesthesia training, when a healthy young man died of a massive heart attack under a routine general anaesthesia in a Toronto teaching hospital, during a simple toenail extraction. The senior anaesthetist remained devastated for months, even though he had done everything correctly. The senior surgeon who performed the most trivial of surgeries was severely affected. When a patient suffers a medical misadventure, it is horrible for everyone: family, doctors, doctors’
families. There’s great pressure to identify a villain. Let’s remember that the cause of death can only be determined by autopsy. The contributing factors, if any, will be identified at a Coroner’s Inquest. It is grossly unfair to the patient’s family and friends to speculate that were it not for the actions of the attending doctor, the patient would have been alive today.
It is even more unfortunate that blame is prematurely being attributed by some plastic surgeons to the physician who performed the procedure, simply because she is not a member of their sub-section of the medical community.When a liposuction-related death occurred in Toronto some years ago, the identical invective from plastic surgeons was directed at the esteemed ear, nose and throat specialist who performed the surgery. Their argument is simple: Only plastic surgeons should have the right to perform cosmetic surgery. They insist that regardless of training or expertise, no other
category of physician (including ear, nose and throat specialists, dermatologists, general surgeons, gynecologists, anaesthetists, general practitioners) should be permitted to perform cosmetic procedures. This blatant vested-interest attempt to establish a monopoly failed decades ago and is now being resurrected by the new generation of plastic surgeons.
Are they not aware that some of North America’s most respected experts in cosmetic surgery, in terms of both innovation and skill, are from Toronto and notably come from fields outside of plastic surgery? To name a few, Walter and
Martin Unger, dermatologist and surgeon, Peter Adamson and David Ellis, ear, nose and throat surgeons, David Seager, GP, have made significant contributions to advancements in the field of cosmetic surgery. This non-monopoly policy is historically consistent with other fields of medicine.Without being Royal College-certified obstetricians/gynecologists, doctors deliver babies, perform Caesarian sections, tubal ligations and hysterectomies. Similarly, Ontario boasts very competent GP-anaesthetists, GP-surgeons, anaesthetist-surgeons, dermatologist-surgeons.
A most telling and ironic argument against limiting the field of cosmetic surgeons to plastic surgeons, be it for liposuction or any other cosmetic procedure, is the case of Jeffrey Klein. Dr. Klein is a California dermatologist who, in the mid-80′s, single-handedly invented and introduced tumescent technique, the greatest advance in safety in the field of liposuction. Klein’s 4 innovations were:
< <
(1) Eliminating the greatest risk of surgery, general anaesthesia.
Klein's liposuction is performed under local anaesthetic on a
conscious patient.
(2) Decreasing the risk of bleeding and infection. Immediately prior to
removing fat, large volumes (1-4 litres) of very dilute, buffered
local anaesthetic combined with tiny amounts of vasoconstrictor are
infused.
(3) Decreasing the risk of fat embolus. Klein's technique employs much
finer, blunt cannulae (hollow tubes) to remove fat.
(4) Decreasing the risk of venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus. The
ability of the awake patient to mobilize immediately rather than
lying in bed for days, prevents blood from sludging in the legs and
clotting.
>>Post-operative morbidity and mortality dropped dramatically as a result of the Klein technique. Ironically, while Klein’s tumescent liposuction was readily and eagerly embraced by the various branches of the cosmetic surgery community, plastic surgeons were last to make tumescent liposuction the norm.
Many plastic surgeons modified the Klein technique, calling it “the wet technique”, rather than giving a dermatologist the credit he deserves. To this day, they rely on this technique for safe liposuction.
I mourn Krista’s untimely passing. Right now, I feel deep compassion for her family. I equally sympathize with the medical professionals who treated her. Even without the public and professional scrutiny they will surely undergo, I’m sure they are tormented by regret and self-doubt. To the plastic surgeons who are so quick to castigate, I caution: Only last year, a similar
liposuction catastrophe occurred in Montreal, in a highly respected, private Plastic Surgery Clinic. Rather than use this tragedy for political reasons, stop speculating and casting aspersions. Respectfully await the results of the inquest. Cosmetic surgeons of all disciplines would better serve their patients by collaborating on how to make liposuction – a relatively safe procedure – even safer. Be humble, for there, but by the grace of God, go you.Stan Gore, M.D., LL.B.
Medical Director,
LIPIDOCTOR Medical Clinics, TorontoDr. Gore is available for media interviews Sept. 25-Sept. 28/07 in
Toronto, Oct. 1-Oct. 2/07 in Vancouver, Oct. 8 onwards, in Toronto.
September 30th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Unfortunately for the author of the original post, they fail to understand that the clinic in question and the doctor specifically had never had their facilities inspected by anyone in the government and complaints were sloughed off by the CPSO. Would they want to see a naturopath, or chiropractor do liposuction? None of the diplomas that hang on the walls of the Toronto Cosmetic Clinic indicate that the owner of the clinic has any recognized specialty qualifications. There is no turf war here. The CPSO blew it, and they had an ample opportunity to take action to stop the clinic from advertising, and in the opinion of some people, they should have been shut down years ago.
September 30th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
That’s funny, I thought the Plastic Surgeons did not want anyone else but them doing liposuction. They said as much all over the news. Only plastic surgeons should do liposuction and cosmetic surgery. Not brain surgeons. Not any other kind of trained doctor. Just them. This is not a naturopath we’re talking about here but a trained medical doctor. I’ve done some looking into her qualifications and she seems to be very well trained by some very respected doctors. I’ve even heard from some other doctors in the field and she is very well respected.
If what you way is true, why isn’t the media going after the CPSO with as much gusto as this individual clinic? Why? Because it’s probably all a load of crap that’s why. Nobody was arrested. The clinic is not shut down. So this means that the coroner did not find any problems when he investigated the clinic after the incident or action would have been taken immediately.
I find it interesting that you know so much about them and the CPSO. I allowed this post because we have a policy of open discussion but you seem to have some very intricate knowledge about the clinic and the industry. Are you sure you’re not someone from the plastic surgery lobby?
And please don’t say things like “in the opinion of some people”. State your points and don’t use the same kinds of wording as the media. Who are these people specifically? Some people say you are a plastic surgeon and spreading your propaganda. Would you like something like that? State a source or point to a site but please don’t make general statements with no basis.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I think you are very wrong in your comments here. The point is this: When you go to a plastic surgeon you know they have undertaken 5 years of training and residency and passed written and oral examinations in the area of plastic surgery and performed hundreds of cases during their studies. When you go to a non plastic surgeon like the surgeon at this TCC clinic you do not know their training, for all we know she learned liposuction at a weekend course! that is what is wrong here, there are no rules set and she can say all she wants on her website about training, how do we know its true without anyone governing it. Its the laws set by the College that are the problem. The TCC clinic was not doing anything illegal you are right, its the laws that need to be changed, the public needs to know these people have been properly trained and passed exams. The fact that a dentist can learn about breast augmentation in a day and legally be allowed to perform the operation is insane.
And of course Dr Gore would release that statement, his lipo clinic is at risk if they change the rules! by the way he was fined by the college a few years ago writing illegal precriptions over the internet, you can view it on the cpso website, type in his name and look at past findings. this is not someone I would want pushing a liposuction canula inside of me. I dont know how anyone could so stupid to book a plastic surgery procedure with any of these non plastic surgeons.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Hi Sarah, thanks for posting. I’m hoping you’re a real person and not just another plastic surgeon trying to spam the blog. It’s impressive how organized they are and how they seem to monitor the internet for this type of thing. I’ve had several fake e-mails from the same IP try to spam us so far. Good thing these doctors are not too bright when it comes to computers. I’ve let yours through because you seem somewhat genuine even though you sure have a lot of info about that Gore guy.
The truth of the matter is that I’m not wrong. The real issue at stake here is nothing other than money. These doctors all want a monopoly and they spread the same type of weekend liposuction course BS that you state above. It’s nothing more than propaganda. Do you honestly believe that if this were such a dangerous and complicated procedure it would be allowed to happen unchecked? It’s kind of insulting to the whole medical profession. Not that I have much respect for them but that type of statement is a bit much. Besides, don’t they also go to weekend courses for the latest filler or to pick up a procedure they were not originally trained in? I’m sure they do. They just want to pretend that their “5 years” of training somehow makes them better.
Frankly, I think that anyone going in for an operation for the purposes of vanity is crazy and I have little sympathy for them if things go wrong. I feel very sorry for that woman’s child but the real problem is that she chose to do the operation so who can we really blame? Her doctor seemed to be very qualified. I checked, she had changed the scope of her practice to cosmetic surgery through the right channels and got the necessary training. It was not a weekend course and she seems to still be in business so there was obviously no error on her part or she’d be stripped of her licence.
Plastic surgeons are not trained for 5 years in liposuction. And to be honest, they should not be allowed to do cosmetic procedures. If they are so highly trained, they should stick to giving our citizens the quality care in the field that they were trained in. Fixing cleft lips on children, re-attaching limbs and so on. This is what their additional training is in. Why are they so hard up to protect boobs and fat removal? Why? Because they make a ton of money from it and they want a monopoly like any other consortium. They get together and they obviously orchestrate campaigns against their perceived enemies. The point of my article is not to fix the laws but to comment on the disgusting behaviour of the media in spreading their propaganda without checking facts while nobody, and I mean nobody holds them accountable for it.
Are there no deaths from liposuction in the hands of plastic surgeons? Do people not die all the time from plastic surgery? I’ll save you the trouble of checking. They do. It’s a risk. Just like getting in your car and being hit by an SUV. You could die. It’s a risk and every patient has this risk explained to them by law. The psychology of these people is one of risk aversion. As a group, they can overlook risk. That’s why the can go in and be put under, cut open, and stitched up just to have a slightly smaller waist line.
The main difference here is that the media loves to benefit from people’s deaths and this particular campaign seemed very planned. They don’t report other deaths but they sure seem to care a lot about this one in particular. CTV more than the rest. My question is why? I’m pretty sure they don’t care about the woman that died. The story is not that interesting really. But they kept on it like they had been waiting for the opportunity. It’s all very strange.
So I maintain that if a doctor is qualified to do a heart operation or cut a baby out of a woman’s gut, he is qualified to put in a set of double Ds. Either ban these ridiculous procedures all together or just admit that they are what they are and stop insulting the majority of doctors.
As for the plastic surgeons and Dr. Lista. I drove by his clinic the other day on the way to a meeting. He sure seems to be doing well for himself. No wonder he’s on TV trying to protect his money by spreading lies. He should be ashamed of himself as should the rest of them. All these doctors need to get back to work and help save people. Not feed the ridiculous pursuit of vanity and the lining of their own fat pockets. (pardon the pun)
November 7th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Im not a plastic surgeon no, but I am a plastic surgery patient and I strongly believe in plastic surgeons because I believe they have had training and are governed more than the non plastic surgeons. Perhaps some of these non plastic surgeon are very good but my point is we dont know as it is not governed at all. You say it cant be hard to suck out some fat but Ive seen enough bad jobs to know its not that easy. A plastic surgeon performs hundreds of breast augmentations during training and residency and Im sure a lot of other procedures like liposuction too, its way more training than someone who isnt trained as plastic surgeon. Dont forget a lot of these non plastic surgeons are not heart surgeons or other specialities, many are just GPs and family physcians who I dont think even learn surgical procedures at university.
and dont get me going on the medias portrayal of plastic surgery in general, it makes me sick! For example breast implants … the media portrays women who get them are insecure, and most people think of implants and think of Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith etc. But that couldnt be further from the truth. Most of the women seeking breast augmentation were either born with no breasts at all and want to feel feminine, or those who have lost their breasts during pregnancy/breast feeding and want to restore what they had before. Most women have high self esteem, but they lack confidence in that area. What annoys me is that if a woman has lost her breasts to cancer and chooses to restore them its ok. but those women who never developed or lost them in pregancy are insecure and shallow.
Anyway I wont go on, we can agree to disagree about the plastic surgeon thing, I truly believe that you should go to someone who you know has had lengthy training and written exams overs someone you are not sure about. Ive met a few plastic surgeons and I dont think they are soley in it for the money even though Im sure it may seem that way. thanks for listening!
November 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I’ve also met several plastic surgeons. They didn’t seem any smarter or more capable than any other doctor and my impression was that they were in it for the money. Part of what I’ve done in the past is marketing and I’ve had a chance to speak to people from all walks of life. Plastic surgeons that run private clinics and perform cosmetic surgery are in it for the money. Period. They’re not there for the fun of it or to help restore patients’ lives. That’s done in a hospital and is covered by OHIP. You run a private clinic for money. Whether you’re a plastic surgeon or cosmetic surgeon or whatever. People don’t get into business for fun. They do it for profit.
If we go by what you say, then everyone that studies something in school should stick to that profession. A lawyer who studied criminal law should never undergo additional training and change his/her practice to civil law because he’s just too damn stupid to change.
The truth is that we don’t stop learning and taking tests once we leave school. That’s why people undergo training and get MBAs after they’ve worked for 20 years at a job. Because as humans we can change and grow. I wouldn’t go and get liposuction from a dentist. Well, I wouldn’t get liposuction anyway but you know what I mean. However, a trained doctor with the same training up to where they diverge when specializing in plastic surgery is just as qualified to undergo additional training and change the scope of their profession. Just because someone didn’t go back to school to get their “plastic surgeon” label does not make them unqualified. If you don’t like the labels placed on the insecure women who get breast implants for vanity, you should not place your own labels on the doctors just because one of them changed what they wanted to do later in life.
An incompetent plastic surgeon is not better than a competent cosmetic surgeon even if their original training was as a GP. If you have any doubts, go and see all the doctors and ask them the hard questions. Why rely on a label? That’s like saying any mechanic is the same as the next because they have a certificate as a mechanic. You have to do the research and make the right choice just as you would in any other part of life. The plastic surgeon propaganda won’t help anything. I was just reading the news and in Dubai they are opening up some sort of major cosmetic surgery hospital. In their branch, “plastic surgery” is just a division of the whole practice of cosmetic surgery.
http://www.dhcc.ae/en/Default.aspx?type=1&id=24
We shouldn’t let propaganda or our own Canadian bias blind us to the truth.
Cosmetic surgery is a for-profit activity that can be learned by qualified medical professionals under proper training and it is chiefly done for vanity or self esteem/confidence reasons. It caries risks like anything else and should not be the monopoly of one group who want to lock it down in order to better profit from it.
In contrast, plastic surgery started as a noble profession which used to repair disfigurements caused by war accidents or to replace noses for women who had their nose cut off for being accused of adultery, and criminals or soldiers who suffered the same fate as a punishment in the form of humiliation. It evolved during the two world wars where techniques were advanced and improved. Originally doctors would have great debates about whether or not plastic surgeons should even be allowed to perform “vanity” procedures. That debate of course is now moot. The ones that are doing it for money, know why they’re doing it and they used the media in this case to try and protect their hold. It really sickens me and that was the point of this original post. The media lies and helped these people do their dirty work.
If plastic surgeons really believed what they said, they’d try to have all cosmetic procedures stopped. That is what the real plastic surgeons used to advocate. The ones you see on the news now are just businessmen. Plain and simple. Profit seeking, money grubbing business men who use public relations as a weapon to advance their goals and their business while spreading disinformation and ignorance in the masses. There is really nothing more to be said about it.