NorthPark Center in Dallas, Texas can help you get ready for a big night out in more ways than one.Not only can you find a fabulous outfit from one of the mall's high-end boutiques, you can get a little touch of of Botox or Restylane while you're at it.
That's right, you no longer have to make an appointment at the dermatologist's office and sit alongside pimply teenagers anxious for the latest acne treatment. You can just sail into NorthPark on your lunch hour, pick up a Nanette Lepore top at Neiman's, grab some LipFusion at Sephora, and then head straight for the Klinger Advanced Aesthetics treatment room for some new...lips?
Sound strange? Maybe that's because it is.
"This is a troubling shift toward the demedicalization of cosmetic medicine, turning it into a customer service akin to haircutting and toenail trimming," said Dr. Arthur L. Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Richard Rakowski, chief executive for Klinger, defends the medical boutique by saying the store is an alternative for consumers who dislike dealing with "pathology and disease," and demand a more pleasant environment for the procedures to be performed.
So what do you think? Is the medical community merely trying to help simplify our lives? Or are they sneakily turning "medicine" into mass profit by starting practices in our shopping malls?