China 2006-11 05 Xin 021103050933741575458

From Reuters via China Daily:

China has banned leg-lengthening surgery that a largely unregulated beauty industry has been offering to customers who want to be taller.

“Leg-stretching surgery for the image conscious has been banned by China’s Health Ministry after a spate of botched operations,” the Xinhua news agency reported Saturday.

Hospitals that conduct at least 400 orthopedic operations a year and offer post-surgery care and rehabilitation will be allowed to carry out such operations in future, but only on strictly medical grounds, according to a ministry circular. [Full Text]