Here's an equally good indicator of consumer spending, LOL: "Cosmetic Surgery Sags as Slowing U.S. Economy Limits Spending
New York, June 11 (Bloomberg) -- After the day's last patient
had gone home, Dr. Elliot Rose sat in his Park Avenue office and
pined for all the breast augmentations, tummy tucks and facelifts
that might have been.
Like many cosmetic surgeons, Rose's business has slumped in
the last year. Patients have postponed or canceled surgeries
during the economic decline, he said.
``I've been getting a few ladies who say `I'd love to have my
face lifted, but I can't afford it because my portfolio's dropped
down 40 to 50 percent,' '' said Rose, whose Manhattan practice has
declined 10 to 20 percent since September. ``I don't know anyone,
from the top down, who hasn't been hurt.''
Dr. Mark Solomon said he first noticed the drop in business
in September when dancers from a Philadelphia topless club stopped
calling him for breast implant consultations.
``If I need to know what's going on with the economy, I don't
listen to Alan Greenspan, I listen to a topless dancer,'' said
Solomon, whose office is in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, near
Philadelphia. ``With the market down, the guys just didn't have
the money to spend on the girls.''
Few cosmetic procedures are covered by health insurance, so
patients pay for their operations with discretionary income,
surgeons said.
``When we look at a patient, we are competing with that new
car or that new fur, or that trip they're going to take,'' said
Dr. Steven Pearlman, who spent $2 million in November to open a
new office on Park Avenue with a state-of-art computer system and
an operating room.
All Procedures Affected
Park Avenue has the highest concentration of plastic surgeons
``east of Beverly Hills,'' Rose said. There are 6,100 certified
plastic surgeons in the U.S., according to the American Board of
Plastic Surgeons, a trade association based in Illinois.
Since August, the Nasdaq has lost 46 percent of its value and
U.S. jobless claims rose to the highest level in more than 8 1/2
years in early June, the U.S. Labor Department reported. The
slowdown has affected the sale of luxury goods, including sports
cars and summer homes.
Doctors said the decline is having an impact on all cosmetic
procedures, including rhinoplasties (nose jobs), blepharoplasties
(removal of excess skin from eyelids) and liposuctions (in which
fat is sucked from a patient's buttocks, thighs or belly).
Dr. Paul Weiss, a surgeon with an office on Fifth Avenue,
estimated that 24 patients canceled procedures in the last year.
Other patients opted for cheaper operations.
`Less Expensive Procedure'
``Given the options, some people will choose a less expensive
procedure,'' he said. ``Instead of getting an eyelid rejuvenation
in combination with a brow lift, they'll just do their eyelids.''
Business is down about 20 percent over the last year, said
Dr. Thomas Loeb, the Park Avenue surgeon who performed a 1998 nose
job on Paula Corbin Jones, who sued former U.S. President Bill
Clinton for sexual harassment.
``I wouldn't say it's tanking, but we can definitely feel
it,'' Loeb said.
Combination facelifts and eyelid surgery, which costs $16,000
or more, has been hardest hit, Loeb said.
Between 1992 and 1998, the total number of cosmetic surgeries
in the U.S. went up to more than 1 million from 412,900, according
to an analysis by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Mainstream Pursuit
The number of breast implant surgeries increased 413 percent
over the same period, with more than 172,000 performed in 2000,
the society reported. The number of liposuctions totaled 230,835
in 1999, compared with 47,212 in 1992.
During the 1990s, plastic surgery became a mainstream pursuit
with new treatments, such as those using Botox, a protein that is
injected under the skin to smooth wrinkles and brow lines, said
Dr. Jean Loftus, author of ``The Smart Woman's Guide to Plastic
Surgery'' (Contemporary Books, 2000).
More patients are turning to credit companies to bankroll
their beauty, said Christopher Solton, president of Los Angeles-
based Reliance Finance Corp., which makes $350,000 in non-
collateralized loans a month to patients around the country.
``This is America,'' said Solton, who makes many of his loans
in New York, Texas and California. ``People want their surgery and
they want it now.''
Unicorn Financial, based in Tallahassee, Florida, has
referral agreements with 81 Manhattan surgeons, according to its
Web site.
Paying With Credit Cards
Paula Chin, a 32-year-old model who lives in Queens, said she
planned to take out a loan in order to have breast augmentation
surgery that costs $9,000.
``The cost is a big factor and I couldn't do it if I didn't
get financing,'' Chin said. ``I don't think it's weird. People
wouldn't think it's weird if they were doing it for a car, and
this is a lot more important.''
Patients also are paying for surgery with credit cards.
``At least half of my patients pay with credit cards, and
that number keeps going up,'' said Dr. E. Douglas Whitehead, a
Manhattan urologist who performs penile enlargements costing
$3,800 to $9,500.
Whitehead said patients have an added incentive to charge
their bill on a credit card. ``They can build up frequent flyer
miles,'' he said.
Surgeons said they wouldn't cut their prices, regardless of
economic conditions.
`Make A Deal'
``I'd rather make a deal with a patient than slash my fee,''
Loeb said. ``I can cut them a break if I use their photos in my
book (of before and after-surgery photographs). Or I can give them
a free Botox, or maybe even a free fat transfer treatment. But you
don't want to start cutting your fees. Once you do that, it never
ends.''
Many surgeons think the worst may be over. They said while
the American economy may slump periodically, Americans sag
perpetually.
``I've noticed that things have been picking up lately as
consumer confidence rebounds,'' Rose said. ``Plus, in the summer
months, all the kids are home from school. That's when they get
their rhinoplasties.''
--Glenn Thrush in the New York newsroom at (212) 893-5414 or
gthrush@Bloomberg.net/jd/rr
Story illustration: For more New York news, see {TNYC <GO>}.
For more health care news, see {HTOP <GO>}.
To view the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Web site, see
plasticsurgery.org |
