Teen: Plastic Surgery Is Graduation Gift
Several days after a Florida teenager died from breast augmentation complications, new information shows more women and teenage girls are turning to plastic surgery for perfection. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, the number of breast augmentation procedures jumped 7 percent in 2007 and 64 percent since 2000. There were nearly 350,000 breast implant surgeries last year, and more than 11,000 of those patients were age 18 or under. Stephanie Kuleba, an 18-year-old high school senior from Boca Raton, Fla., had a fatal reaction to anesthesia during corrective breast surgery, doctors said. The teen was trying to correct her asymmetrical breasts. A 17-year-old girl in the Kansas City area told KMBC's Dion Lim that a trend among her peers is to get plastic surgery as a graduation present. "I think it's ridiculous, but if that's what they want to go through, and they know the effects of it, it's their decision," said the girl, who didn't want her name used. The Food and Drug Administration doesn't approve breast augmentation for patients under 18. However, Lim reported that there are plastic surgeons who ignore the 18-and-under warning. The FDA makes exceptions for patients younger than 18 in cases of reconstructive or corrective surgery.
Author: kmbctv
Keywords: KMBC Kansas City breast implant surgery teenage women
Added: March 26, 2008
