Report: Bigger breasts offered as perk to soldiers

[Goldmund]

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The U.S. Army has long lured recruits with the slogan "Be All You Can Be," but now soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, on the taxpayers' dime.

The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free -- something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills.

"Anyone wearing a uniform is eligible," Dr. Bob Lyons, chief of plastic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told the magazine, which said soldiers needed the approval of their commanding officers to get the time off.

Between 2000 and 2003, military doctors performed 496 breast enlargements and 1,361 liposuction surgeries on soldiers and their dependents, the magazine said.

more: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/21/military.perks.reut/index.html

[redqueen]

1. Is liposuction really a good way to keep your surgeons' 'reconstructive'

surgery skills sharp?

Really?

Such weak excuses from those defending this.

[eyesroll]

2. Why liposuction?

I can sort of understand breast augmentation -- if a soldier becomes disfigured in combat, or gets breast cancer and needs reconstruction, are the skills similar?

Nose jobs can help surgeons practice facial reconstruction, shrapnel retrieval, etc. too.

But is liposuction ever medically required? What relevant "skills" are these surgeons practicing?

[jdj]

3. We hear all these horrible stories about the VA

and yet they think people are going to let them work on their faces?

[ender]

4. the people at the VA are generally pretty good...

especially if you have parasite-type infections, or obvious war-trauma injuries, physical or psychic.

its the funding, and the policies that suck.

[Moderator]

5. Duplicate

Please add your article to the existing thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=701777