Yeah - that’s what I meant. Let me get that clear, especially @stegelast0, I would always, always, prefer a good bodymod artist over a doctor for all special stuff. They have a lot more experience in that field, they know a lot about special aftercare, they are there if something goes wrong.
What happened around Howie is very unusual, and thus it gets talked about a lot - what is important, in fact, to show what can go wrong. But you can also find a whole lot of stories, where people died because a doctor did something wrong - and even if you put this in equation to the amount of doctors vs. the amount of bodymod artists, I think the artists still have a very good standing.
It is just very important to chose the right one - especially for everything where a scalpel is involved. But we’ve got quite a lot of bodmod-conscious people up here, who can recommend artists, who can have a look at their works and such, and who can give (non-medical) advice.
So, don’t let the stupid and irresponsible things one bodymodder did keep you from visiting one of the others. They are artists, they know what they do, and they do amazing work and deserve to be supported 