ABSTRACT
CASE STUDY: The Boob Job Cream Saga You may fi nd that sticking your head above the parapet leaves you open to being attacked by others in the industry, in particular in a ‘Wild West’ environment that may contain little in the way of regulation. The minute you say “beware practitioners who do such-and-such,” the practitioners who do such-and-such will be up in arms. In one memorable incident, a plastic surgeon was asked by a U.K. newspaper to comment on the claims made by a so-called boob job cream that promised the user increased
cup sizes when the product was rubbed in everyday. (I always wondered, wouldn’t the hands get bigger as well?) The surgeon’s view was that the public should exercise caution regarding these claims, as there was little scientifi c data backing them up. The response from the company was to issue a threat of a libel lawsuit. The Saga of the Boob Job Cream became a sort of ‘cause celebre’, with journalists leaping to the defence of the surgeon, free-speech organisations and even famous names such as Stephen Fry Tweeting their outrage. The matter was even debated in Parliament by MPs (somehow contributing to the words ‘boob job cream’ being bandied about in Westminster will remain for me a career milestone) when libel reform was discussed. The lawsuit was eventually dropped by the manufacturers, and as entertaining as such a public kerfuffl e was, it was not pleasant for the surgeon who could have lost her livelihood through a lengthy and expensive legal trial. There are downsides to speaking up. Your more snobbish colleagues may look down at you, and outspoken views may even land you in hot water (especially if you resemble Plain-Speaking Surgeon). Rivals may even seek to publicly attack you. Many clinicians and professionals still wonder why we choose to engage with the media at all when it can be such a minefi eld, but the benefi ts can be far-reaching and above and beyond the enhancement of personal and business profi les. There is simply no other, more effective way, of reaching thousands if not millions of people and spreading the word on patient education and safety.
