Station Home Page & More Local Information Starting February 1, surgeons will be able to bid on people's surgeries. Surgeons bid on surgery online SEATTLE, January 24 – A bold medical experiment starts on the Internet beginning February 1. Anyone considering elective surgery could find their surgeon in cyberspace, but the bid for surgery is cutting a few ethical questions wide open.

			IS BIDDING on doctors and surgery part of the future of medicine? An Internet company has set out to find out.     With the click of a mouse, consumers will be able to find a surgeon willing to perform cosmetic, foot or eye surgery at a negotiated price.     The new Web site will be something like a medical eBay. It promises consumers one-stop doctor shopping.     You post the elective procedure to be performed and bidding surgeons have 72 hours to respond.     Many have serious reservations because the main focus is the price. Others say there is no difference from surgeons advertising in the Yellow Pages or newspapers, which is commonly done.     But have we gone too far? The Internet arguably provides the world’s most useful tool for medical information and patient education. Perhaps in 5 years, bidding for surgery won’t seem nearly so radical. For now, it’s sure to spark debate around the dinner table and the surgical theater.     One plastic surgery organization issued a warning saying bidding for even elective surgery provides no guarantee of a surgeon’s credentials, competency, or of your satisfaction.

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