Military members and thier familes get free cosmetic surgery

[ybbor]

I saw this in the New Yorker. "personnel in all 4 branches of the miltary (and thier immediate families) can get face-lifts, nose jobs, brest enlargements, liposuction, and any other type of elective cosmetic alteration" for free (well, actually at taxpayer expense) thier commanding officer does however have to approve of time off for the surgery. but for most procedures there's at least a 10 day "recovery period" during which they are considered on paid medical leave. it talks about one woman who got the surgery for free, but if she was not in the military it would have cost her around a hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). The army has too trains of thought 1 (the weaker one) is that it is used a s a recruiting tool. the problem with that is there is no mention of it in any recruiting literature. the other idea they have is that it gives army surgons someone to "practice on." the army wants them to keep thier skills sharp in case they are doing reconstructive surgery on wounded soldiers. what do you guys think about this?

 

[The Last Conformist]

If the military surgeons need practice, have them preform operations on civilians, whom they can charge for it.

 

[PHSikes]

Can you show me the article?

You can get stuff like that done in the military, but it's usually to fix some 'disfigurement'.

 

[ybbor]

Can you show me the article?

You can get stuff like that done in the military, but it's usually to fix some 'disfigurement'.

umm, does the new yorker have a website that shows thier articles? it's the July 26th edition with people in a wave on the ocver and the article is on page 29. it's not just disfigurement, trust me on that

 

[anarchywrksbest]

I heard that on the radio. Soldiers have to pay for their own gear while that goes on?

 

[stratego]

These are men and women that put their lives on the line. The least you can do is give them a sexy nose. Although it would be unfair for people like me who already have a sexy nose, just give me the refund.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Sure you don't want bigger breasts instead?

 

[Sir Bugsy]

I know that anyone wounded in the line of duty is entitled to reconstructive surgery and they try and make them as close as possible to the original.

Down at San Antonio's Burn Center, they perform a lot of plastic surgery, but that's for burn victims. Those are the only instances I heard of in 20+ years of service.

I think the folks at the New Yorker have been in the

 

[IglooDame]

I know that anyone wounded in the line of duty is entitled to reconstructive surgery and they try and make them as close as possible to the original.

Down at San Antonio's Burn Center, they perform a lot of plastic surgery, but that's for burn victims. Those are the only instances I heard of in 20+ years of service.

I think the folks at the New Yorker have been in the

In fact one example of abuse of federal-issue credit-cards (issued to assist with travel and in some cases contracting/purchasing-type jobs) was when the woman paid for breast-enlargement surgery with her card. I have to think that the New Yorker is smoking the cheap stuff, unless someone can point to some evidence. I worked with recruiters and none of them were selling this, that I know of.

 

[Norlamand]

Plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery is available to military personel and their dependants. It isn't always free. If it involves the correction of a deformity, scarring or for a medical reason then it is free. For purely cosmetic surgery there is a charge, at least the price of any implants/equipment used. It is offered, not so much as a vanity, but to keep the plastic surgeons credentials up to date. In order to maintain hospital credentials for surgical procedures you actually need to show that you do the procedure on a relatively regular basis. The same applies to other surgical specialties as well.

 

[Halcyon]

Besides, treatment that would cost $100,000 elsewhere isn't likely to be costing taxpayers that amount when military surgeons perform it, though. Most of the cash paid for cosmetic operations goes to the practicioner, since the overhead costs are comparatively small in most cases.

Now, I find it unlikely that the US army pays its surgeons the market price for any cosmetic operations they perform. It's quite probable that they're not paid based on the operations they perform at all, and in that case you might as well get them to do some work for their wage. Plus of course that either way if they don't do much work then their credibility becomes questionable. Nobody wants their face cut open by someone who is a bit out of practice and can't quite remember how it goes.