A New York Times story brings out the truth about the difficulty in scheduling an appointment with a dermatologist to have a mole examined for cancer. If the appointment is for a botox treatment, you are more likely to get it immediately.

Why, you may wonder? Well, for starters, the doctor makes around $400-$600 per session for Botox while an average mole examination is likely to get the doctor a measly $50 to $75 from the insurance company.

According to a study conducted in 12 cities by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the average wait for a Botox appointment was 8 days versus 26 days for a skin cancer examination.

Doctors making money is not a bad thing (after all, they worked long and hard to get where they are), as long as it is not at the cost of sacrificing their patients’ health over profits. Early detection of cancer is very important for proper treatment and therefore I think that doctors should prioritize their patients according to need rather than according to profits. And though a few weeks here and there may not seem like a big risk in the progression of cancer, no one besides the patient can understand the anxiety that he/she feels while waiting to find out about their health.

Let us know what you think.