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Miami Jewish Plastic Surgeon Takes Heat for Allegedly Anti-Semitic Music Video

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Dr. Michael Salzhauer, a 40-year old Bal Harbour plastic surgeon is facing possible professional ethics charges as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons has launched an investigation into his conduct when it was revealed that he had commissioned a controversial music video called “Jewcan Sam” in order to encourage rhinopasty amongst youngsters.

The video was performed by a Jewish pop-punk band from Queens, New York called “The Groggers” and focuses on a Jewish teenager who is summarily rebuffed by “the girl of his dreams” because of his big nose. The song, “Jewcan Sam” opens with the lyrics:

I want her, but she don’t want what I am

She says you got a beak like Jewcan Sam

She says I only go with guys with perfect upturned noses

So cut yours down to size.

“Jewcan Sam” is a play on “Toucan Sam,” the cartoon mascot for Froot Loops breakfast cereal with the protruding, multicolored beak.

“I wanted to create something no other plastic surgeon has done before. Rhinoplasty is my favorite and most desired procedure. I found a way to incorporate my work into a fun and creative way to attract more patients,” Salzhauer, who is Jewish, said in a press release. Dr. Salzhauer even went as far as flying the group down to Miami to record the video, as well as providing lodging and as an added bonus, he offered free nose jobs to every member of the group. 

L.E. Doug Staiman, lead singer of “The Groggers” told Dr. Salzhauer, AKA Dr. Schnoz, “It’s funny you’re commissioning us to do this, because most of our band members have these massive, deformed noses,” later noting that “(H)e generously offered nose jobs to the entire band. But I was the only one who went through with it”.

The song is meant to be funny, not offensive,” Salzhauer said, but not everyone is laughing.  “This is just disturbing that a doctor would play into the frailties of the human condition,” said Dr. Malcolm Roth, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, who has called the video “offensive and inappropriate.”

Dr. Salzhauer said that while some might find the song sad or even offensive, the message is in fact quite deep: No one should undergo cosmetic surgery to please somebody else. “The singer was able to express in a very tongue-in-cheek way that you shouldn’t base your self-esteem on someone else or go under the knife to get validation from someone else,” said Salzhauer. “That never works out. He doesn’t get the girl in the video.” 

Because of its controversial content, and because it was commissioned by one of its members, the ASPS “has initiated an investigation under its Code of Ethics which clearly requires ASPS members to uphold the dignity and honor of the medical profession.”  Dr. Roth said he could not comment specifically on the investigation but, generally speaking, if a member of ASPS is found guilty of breaching its Code of Ethics, the physician can end up on probation, have his or her benefits put on hold, lose membership, and even lose board certification.

Dr. Roth also said that plastic surgeons must be sensitive to the realities of cosmetic surgery, particularly in teenagers. “This is something elective and needs to be contemplated very carefully by teenagers and their families,” he said. “There are usually all sort of issues that a normal teenager goes through, regardless of how they appear to the outside world.” Board certified plastic surgeons are to evaluate psychological implications in a potential patient before they ever go under the knife.

“A discussion with the patient and family is important to ascertain whether motivation for consultation might be mitigated with something other than surgery,” Roth said. “Surgery is not the first step you take when you’re not happy with your appearance.”

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