Cosmetic surgery lures away GPs

Some doctors arescaling back their family practices to perform cosmetic procedures, spurring critics to ask whether the move will make current health-care waiting lists even longer.

'One of my associateswas a family doctor, and now she's doing hair transplants because… she was getting fed up' with the health-care system. —Dr. Paul Cohen, a Toronto dermatologist

Firm numbers are not available but hundreds, and possibly thousands, of Canadian family doctors and specialists are replacing or supplementing their medical practice with cosmetic procedures.

Dr. Paul Cohen, a dermatologist in Toronto, said hedivides his practice, spending half of his time onmedical cases such as skin cancer and acne and half on cosmetic procedures such as Botox injections and laser peels.

While a provincial health plan may pay a doctor $60 to do a 30-minute physical or $12 to remove a mole, patients pay more than $200 for a cosmetic procedure such as Botox that takes 10 minutes.

"One of my associateswas a family doctor, andnow she's doing hair transplants because… she was getting fed up" with the health-care system, Cohen said.

Cohen said he has had calls from all kinds of doctors and some dentists inquiring about how to learn to do cosmetic medicine.

Dr. Yvonne Verbeeten, a family doctor in Toronto, said she's committed to the public system but spends her afternoons doing cosmetic procedures.

"Everybody leaves here happy," Verbeeten said. "We're not dealing with illness, we're dealing with something that people really, really want."

Doctors educated at taxpayers' expense, critic points out

The"Botox exodus" may mean thatfamily doctors and specialists are spending less time seeing patients who are sick.

Dr. Tom Noseworthy in Calgary said he is worried about doctors, who were educated at taxpayers' expense, moving into private medicine.

"If we see substantial numbers of physicians moving into the private clinic environment, then it's got to be more regulated," said Noseworthy, who belongs to the Canadian Doctors for Medicare, a group that advocates for public health care.

"We need to get a clear understanding about what their commitment is going to be to the publicly funded system."