Plastic Surgeons Feel Subprime Pain

The subprime crisis has hit Goldy Anthony hard; she can’t even afford her bi-monthly trips to the plastic surgeon anymore. “I would rather have Botox than go out to dinner, but it’s just gotten so bad,” says Anthony, who works in Los Angeles' slumping mortgage business. Woes like hers are hurting Beverly Hills plastic surgeons, who are losing would-be face-lift-ees.

Plastic surgery is a multibillion-dollar industry, but like most luxury spending, it’s vulnerable to economic wobbles. “What we do is strictly a choice made by the patient,” said one surgeon. “There is no medical urgency.” Already surgeries dropped 5% in January and February for one nip/tucker, who says others have seen dips of up to 40%, the Los Angeles Times reports. (More subprime crisis stories.)