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Cosmetic Dermatology and the Ethics of Enhancement

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Dermatoethics

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Abstract

Cosmetic dermatology is a subspecialty that encompasses procedures and treatments intended to enhance patients’ ideal aesthetic. It poses unique challenges for physicians, forced to step out of the typical physician role of restoring and protecting health and into the role of bringing the body towards a subjective preference of beauty and youth. Cosmetic dermatologists are at risk of promoting arbitrary and false ideals of beauty. However, refusal to treat may violate the patient’s rights of autonomy and beneficence. Cosmetic enhancements have several benefits for the patient that go beyond aesthetic satisfaction, and if provided ethically, can make a positive contribution to the patient and potentially to society at large. This chapter discusses the unique ethical considerations that arise in cosmetic dermatology and how dermatologists should navigate them.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Ruby Kwak

  2. Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Ruby Kwak

  3. Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Alexandra Charrow

  4. Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Alexandra Charrow

Authors
  1. Ruby Kwak
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  2. Alexandra Charrow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Charrow .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Lionel Bercovitch

  2. Department of Dermatology, Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Clifford S. Perlis

  3. Department of Dermatology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Benjamin K. Stoff

  4. Department of Dermatology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT, USA

    Jane M. Grant-Kels

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Kwak, R., Charrow, A. (2021). Cosmetic Dermatology and the Ethics of Enhancement. In: Bercovitch, L., Perlis, C.S., Stoff, B.K., Grant-Kels, J.M. (eds) Dermatoethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56861-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56861-0_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-56860-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-56861-0

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