Most of these products have not been scientifically tested. Yet consumers continue to waste their money on such products rather than go to the gym. Thus, there is a fascinating sociological aspect of this crime story.
To conform to the prevailing social standards of beauty, women like the victims in this case are willing to go to extreme lengths. The story therefore raises difficult questions related to victims' roles in crime. Criminologists should still question what is essentially a controversial slant in cases like these: victims sometimes do play important roles in enabling crimes to take place. Thankfully, the victims in this case survived but they are no doubt scarred emotionally and physically by the experience. We cannot blame the victims entirely, but must acknowledge the importance of personal responsibility in cases such as these. To use a possibly inappropriate analogy, a person who leaves their laptop alone in the school library can only blame herself or himself if the machine is stolen.
In this story, neither of the suspects appears to have been licensed physicians at any time. They were both posing as doctors to scam consumers into receiving butt implants. However, had the two suspects been licensed physicians, the story would have been appreciably different. The main difference would be the violation of professional codes of ethics. Doctors who knowingly scam their patients are committing a crime far more severe than scam artists pretending to be doctors. This is mainly because patients imbue doctors with their trust; doctors who are licensed to practice medicine are responsible for the health and well being of their patients. Scam artists are expected to commit crimes such as the one in question in this case.
Ovalle, D. (2011). "Second person in 'toxic tush' case posts $5,000 bond." November 24, 2011. Retrieved online: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/24/2517469/second-person-in-toxic-tush-case.html#ixzz1eriaMVIa
