The surgeon may not be be able to offer it "for free," since many others will bill.
Adviceneeded,
Regarding this point:
Custer Laststand said:
An additional question your woman should discuss with her "friend of a friend" plastic surgeon would be the cost of additional treatment if it should happen that post-surgical problems develop. In that case, would he provide her with whatever additional treatment she might need for free? Or, would she have to pay the going "retail rate," which could be considerable, for whatever additional treatment might be necessary to deal with (for instance) an infection or other complications?
An additional thought that comes to mind is, your woman's "friend of a friend" plastic surgeon probably is not in a position to offer her breast-enhancement surgery for free even if he wants to and, in fact, has offered her exactly that.
I say this because the costs of surgery are billed to the patient separately by every person and entity that's involved. After her surgery, your woman will receive:
1) a bill from the hospital for the use of their operating facilities. It won't be cheap.
2) a bill from the anesthesiologist, who will be a critically-necessary, highly-educated and highly-paid specialist different from the surgeon. That also will not be cheap; it may be comparable to, or more than, what the surgeon's bill would be (if he charged the normal rate for his services).
3) additional bills for ALL of the supplies needed for the surgery and for the services of any assistants who may be involved.
4) a bill from the surgeon, which will be zero (if he actually performs the surgery "for free" and does not bill your woman for any follow-up treatment that may be necessary).
In other words: even if your woman's "friend of a friend" surgeon performs her breast-enhancement surgery for free, that definitely does not imply she will not be billed by all the other medical people and entities involved in her surgery. It's unlikely (IMO) your woman's surgeon will be in a position to demand all these other medical people perform their work for free, and that the hospital refrain from billing her for the use of their operating facilities.
Thus, in addition to getting a second-opinion from an independent board-certified plastic surgeon, your woman should request a statement in writing, signed by her "friend of a friend" plastic surgeon, specifying all the different costs associated with her breast-enhancement surgery including post-op costs if it should turn out there are complications. The statement should include an estimated total cost for the whole procedure, over and above the plastic surgeon's bill (which should be zero, if he's as good as his word).
—Custer