Doctors at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat say there has been no long-term dropoff in their caseloads. Nationally, cosmetic surgery procedures -- widely discussed on television and in the news media -- have grown 87 percent since 1997. Plastic surgeons have portrayed them as a healthful rejuvenating regime like a spa weekend. In an article in Newsday in 2002, Dr. Aston compared cosmetic surgery patients to ''the lady who gets her hair done and her nails done.'' He added: ''People are wanting to do it as a part of personal grooming. It will become more and more common as time goes on and be programmed into people's consciousness.''
For the doctors at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat, the deaths have resulted in unfamiliar and unwelcome scrutiny. As head of plastic surgery, Dr. Aston, who has built a practice in part by catering to the vanities of Park Avenue society, in which his wife, Muffie Potter Aston, is an omnipresent figure, has enjoyed unquestioned leadership.
