Due to the success of last week`s auctions, Netcare and bidorbuy.co.za have decided to auction procedures in the KwaZulu-Natal area from 2 to 4 August. All five plastic surgery procedures offered on local auction site bidorbuy.co.za last week were auctioned off for a percentage of their actual value.
The question remains as to whether the medical councils that so vehemently protested the auctions will take action against bidorbuy or Netcare, the hospitals group offering the services of its hospitals and surgeons.
Dr Ian Kadish, spokesman for Netcare, says it is not alone in believing there is no ethical issue involved in an initiative of this sort. "The Hospitals Association, among others, agrees with us." Kadish says the organisations that have been outspoken in the media to date have not contacted Netcare directly.
The winner of the first procedure auctioned - breast reduction worth R20 530 - is a US 'emigr'e who`s spent the last 20 years in SA. "We bid for about 15 minutes," she says, "and we eventually won it at R11 951, but we were willing to go up to R12 000."
The 45-year-old winner, who preferred not to be named, promotes mountain biking in SA, and has for several years been receiving physiotherapy treatment for conditions brought on by the strain of having a DD cup.
Though her medical aid programme paid for the physiotherapy, it didn`t consider breast reduction surgery to be essential to her leading a healthy, pain-free life - not even at the recommendation of a Cape Town-based surgeon who reviewed her case.
In response to the ethical debate sparked by the auctions, she says: "Ethics has different goal posts for different people. In this case, I think it`s a matter of good management - I assumed the hospital is doing it to fill beds."
Nitzan Tal, CEO of bidorbuy.co.za, believes the only reason the initiative was met with such outrage from the medical community, is merely that they were taken by surprise. "People are not used to selling or buying services online. It requires an attitude adjustment."
Tal says the controversial auctions have more than doubled traffic to the site.
Meanwhile, Netcare has been slammed by the Sameday Surgery Association, which claims bidders are being fooled into paying high prices for the operations.
"It is our opinion that this gimmick has misled the public who are being duped into paying excessive prices," Sameday Surgery Association chairman Dr Sam Nudelman said in a statement reported on Sapa.
Kadish believes any price comparison should be one of "apples to apples", saying that the cost of surgical procedures won by auction is inclusive of all related costs incurred. He points out that the cost also covers recovery in an executive suite of the Park Lane Clinic, a rejuvenating hamper and an overnight stay in the Michelangelo Hotel.
The operations in Gauteng were sold for thousands of rands less than Netcare`s normal prices. The laser skin resurfacing procedure worth R15 900 sold for R8 601 and liposuction worth R17 900 was sold for R10 401. A hair removal procedure worth R7 900 was snapped up at R1 651 and the eyelid surgery worth R15 100 was eventually won for R8 601.
Related stories:
Medical community gets snippy with bidorbuy auction
Boob jobs and more, starting at R1
Share