A new law requiring California primary care physicians to give patients a physical examination and written consent before authorizing them to undergo elective cosmetic surgery will do little to improve patient safety, say cosmetic surgeons.

The so-called Donda West Law, named for the mother of rapper and music mogul Kanye West after she died in 2007 following 2 cosmetic procedures, does not impose a criminal penalty on violators. Rather, complaints would go to the state medical board, which would discipline physicians found in violation.

Requiring that patients get a physical and written consent from primacy care doctors within 30 days before elective cosmetic procedures "codifies what reputable physicians have already been doing for a long time," says James Wells, MD, former president of the California and American Society of Plastic Surgeons. And "it'll never change the guys who want to be outlaws to do anything different."

Michael McGuire, MD, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, agrees, saying "the vast majority of physicians and surgeons who are already doing this, it won't affect their practice at all."

Irene Tsikitas