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Visit Medical Spa MD’s plastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology forums and you’ll step into an unlikely brouhaha that’s more than just uncommon in cosmetic dermatology and plastic surgery circles, it’s unheard of.

Growing increasingly frustrated by what cosmetic dermatologists see as an manufactured silence and infuriating lack of clinical support from cosmetic laser and IPL companies, doctors have taken their anger public in a kind of free-for-all dog pile that you don’t usually see from physicians. A publicly viewed outing where ‘names are named’ and fingers are pointed directly at the management teams of cosmetic laser and IPL companies.

In some cases entire strings of emails are published detailing conversations (or lack thereof) and publicly embarrassing top executives and even fellow cosmetic dermatologists that are acting as luminaries. It’s as though the plastic surgeons have now decided to play hard ball really hard.

There’s still some common sense left. Most of the plastic surgeons comments are made anonymously and the medical discussion forums that host these discussions protect the cosmetic dermatologists who wish to remain under some level of secrecy.

Of course the sites hosting these physicians forums have some headaches of their own. Medical Spa MD has been served with a number of lawyer letters and threats for daring to air these forum discussions in public.

“We’ve received a number of nasty-grams”, says the publisher of Medical Spa MD, “but censoring public discourse between physicians is not what forums are about. The physicians on the site are directly responsible for what they post and commenting that their opinion is that they’re not receiving sufficient support from the cosmetic laser companies is just that, their opinion.”

The issues are increasingly complicated by the types of medical answers that the most vocal of the physicians are demanding, leaving the IPL and laser companies in the uncomfortable position of seeming to be ignoring their cosmetic dermatologists as customers, or providing information for cosmetic medical treatments that could easily be considered off-label use by the FDA, creating a potential for hazardous liability claims from patients and as well as the very plastic surgeons who are demanding answers.

The problems are not likely to go away. Information that’s spread publicly on the web has a long shelf life and it’s obvious that technology companies are beginning to take notice. In some cases laser companies have actively joined in the discussion forums and are proactively addressing concerns of doctors as soon as they’re posted, leaving a lasting impression of proactive customer support. These tactics seem to be working. IPL and laser manufactures who are active on the forums have a much lower incidence of negative comments.

In the end it will come down to market demands. Many cosmetic dermatologists who are opening new cosmetic medical clinics and investigating IPL and laser technology are finding their way into these forums and asking their more experienced peers for advice. IPL and laser manufacturers who aren’t part of the discussion can’t expect to win the propaganda wars.