Legal characteristics of cosmetic procedures and aesthetic surgery

Abstract

Cosmetic and aesthetic medicine procedures have long been a cause of public controversy, caused by the unclear eligibility of the various professions to perform them. This issue has not escaped the attention of jurisprudence, which is trying to resolve the issue of their classification as a health care service, as well as the possibility of recognizing people who receive such procedures as patients within the meaning of medical law. The court rulings to date have been ambiguous, but it is possible to see trends forming. This paper is an attempt to define and classify the various types of services in the field of commonly understood "aesthetic medicine"; in particular, this study proposes to make a division, in accordance with accepted definitions in medicine, into cosmetic procedures, aesthetic medicine procedures and plastic surgery procedures. Making such a division facilitates discussion of the legal nature of the various procedures and allows for their further classification.