On December 18th, 2018, the Medical Board of California (MBC) denied the rights of exceptionally trained surgeons to advertise their board certification after they demonstrated that they meet every criteria required to state their board certification, according to a media release.
“The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery (ABCS) is the only certifying board dedicated exclusively to the specialty of cosmetic surgery,” states Peter Canalia, Esq, executive director ABCS, in a media release. “We are disappointed in their decision to support legislation that limits patient choice and is a clear violation of commercial free speech and antitrust and anti-competitive laws.”
For more information, read the full press release at www.prnewswire.com
Not recognized by ACGME. Not recognized by AMA. Not recognized by ABMS. No training in house. Training by non board certified plastic surgeons.
The only recognition is their members only of each other.
Free speech does not mean drawing an equivalence when there isn’t one. Simply stating something is the same doesn’t actually make it the same. The process of board certification is well defined and governed. Kudos to the state of California for this decision.
Well, not exactly.
This self-serving article attempts to equate a “cosmetic surgeon” with a fully trained plastic surgeon.
Refer to The American Board of Medical Specialties:
https://www.abms.org/member-boards/specialty-subspecialty-certificates/
The point is this. The only official body responsible for certifying LEGITIMATE Specialty Boards it the ABMS, the official organ of the AMA.
As such, only these Boards are overseen to ensure that there is a need for the specialty board, the training programs meet high minimum standards, the candidates meet the highest ethical, training, educational, and technical standards before being “certified”.
The “Cosmetic Surgery Board” therefore is not a legitimate board and only serves to puff up the credentials of doctors who have not had training to the standards of those who have been certified by the legitimate American Board of Plastic Surgery. This is at its core dishonest.
California did the right thing by clarifying that the so called “Cosmetic Surgery Board” is not confused with the American Board of plastic Surgery, thereby protecting patients from doctors who have not been trained to the same standards.
To be fair, there are some very good “cosmetic surgeons” but they need to be honest about their training and legitimate credentials.
Well said. I agree 100%