Inquiry into cowboy cosmetic surgery industry hears of growing number of non-hospital procedures
SHRINKING eyelids by burning them, patients treated as guinea pigs, surgical procedures happening in loungerooms — it’s no wonder medical authorities are demanding action on the “out-of-control cowboy” industry of cosmetic enhancement.
NSW
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MEDICAL authorities are warning of an explosion in experimental cosmetic surgery taking place in hotel rooms, offices and residential homes across Sydney.
Among the frightening new unregulated operations is a procedure in which eyelid skin is “burned off” using an illegally imported machine.
A parliamentary inquiry into cosmetic surgery in NSW has heard other claims that women are being injected with stem cells to achieve cosmetic outcomes, with some procedures conducted in lounge rooms.
And doctors fear the soaring popularity of Botox, facelift fillers and unsafe “chemical cocktails” contained in “injectable cosmetics” from overseas are causing irreversible damage to patients, who are being treated as “guinea pigs”.
The concerns come as new laws quietly passed in Parliament this week beefing up fines for storing some dangerous drugs and using unlicensed facilities.
They follow investigations by The Saturday Telegraph into dodgy cosmetic procedures, unwanted outcomes and the death of Chippendale beauty clinic manager Jean Huang during a breast procedure last year.
Victims and doctor groups have told the parliamentary inquiry more needs to be done to regulate the “out-of-control cowboy industry”.
The inquiry has attracted 25 submissions from doctors, surgeons and major health bodies across the state, including the Australian College of Nursing, Health Care Complaints Commission, Medical Council of NSW and the state government.
Medical Council medical director Dr Annette Pantle said regulators were being hit by a rapidly changing industry, with dodgy operators jumping on board with new procedures “often to gain a competitive advantage”.
“The use of injectable human stem cells to achieve cosmetic outcomes is an example of one such emerging trend,” she said.
“Often procedures may be without an evidence base and may not have previously been performed in Australia.”
The Cosmetic Physicians College of Australia said it was “horrifying” medical practitioners were using machines not even approved by the Therapeutic Goods Authority (TGA).
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President Dr Douglas Grose said doctors were worried about new plasma machines being promoted to beauty therapists and “bypassing doctors”, which are being touted to replace eyelid surgery and fix puffy eyes.
Dr Grose said the procedure was “basically burning eyelids to shrink them”.
“The TGA needs to be more active in detecting illegal machines and also in registered equipment for cosmetic medicine,” he said.
The watchdog NSW Health Care Complaints Commission told the inquiry it was investigating a victim who underwent a “double eyelid suture procedure” in a residential apartment in Sydney. “The treatment caused bruising and scarring to the patient, and damage to her eyelids,” it said.
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When they raided the practitioner, they discovered the so-called doctor was not even registered in Australia, nor qualified, and found medications including Botox and hyaluronic acid injection preparations illegally brought into the country.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard has brought in new laws fining people $55,000 for carrying out high-risk procedures such as a breast augmentation in an unlicensed facility.
And he’s just amended the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act to create a new classification for medicines used in cosmetic procedures, such as botulinum toxin and dermal fillers.
But opposition health spokesman Walt Secord said the laws did not go far enough, saying a loophole letting people without qualifications call themselves cosmetic surgeons needed to be fixed.
Doctor groups have also called for Customs to do more to detect illegal medicines and unsterile equipment arriving on our shores.
Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW executive officer Dr Margaret Cooke said many complaints had been made to them about nurses providing services from homes or unlicensed premises that were unclean and lacked infection controls.
Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons president Professor Mark Ashton called on the state and federal governments to set up a special one-stop service to provide independent reliable information for both prospective patients and victims.
While the health watchdog the NSW Healthcare Complaints Commission reports a tripling of complaints since 2014, Professor Mark Ashton of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons said official complaints have been “grossly underestimated”.
“In our experience a significant proportion of patients of poor cosmetic health services at least partially blame themselves when things go wrong and they are unwilling to make a public complaint,” he said.
Consumer advocate and nurse Nicole Montgomery founded a patient support group called Trusted Surgeons after witnessing first-hand the lack of help and ongoing trauma for victims of botched cosmetic surgery.
The Sydney mum left a cosmetic surgery clinic to set up the not-for profit organisation, which not only helps victims but also educates people wanting plastic or cosmetic surgery.
“Many people who have had surgical complications have nowhere to go — I think the HCCC is a toothless tiger — and this inquiry needs to look at these issues,” Ms Montgomery said.
“It is abundantly clear there needs to be change and better protection to protect the public.
“So many women have gone through a terrible journey, need more support, which is why we started Trusted Surgeon, but it snowballed. We get more inquiries than we can handle.”
Former Married At First Sight star Davina Rankin has been indulging in cosmetic injections since she was 18 and supports the regulation of the cosmetic industry.
“I just think it’s a necessity, like anything, especially when you’re dealing with people’s faces and you could do irreversible damage,” she said.
“It needs to be regulated. I don’t think you should be able to muck around with that kind of stuff.”
Rankin, 27, recommended anyone check the credentials of the practitioner and advises young women to see a doctor or a qualified nurse.