NSW Health propose tightening laws after the death of Jean Huang at a beauty clinic
TOUGH new measures that crack down on cosmetic surgery will be introduced in response to the death of a young woman in a botched breast operation.
NSW
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TOUGH new measures that crack down on cosmetic surgery will be introduced in response to the death of a young woman in a botched breast operation.
NSW Health has released proposals to tighten the law following the death of beauty clinic manager Jean Huang, 35, who went into cardiac arrest during surgery at Medi Beauty Clinic in Chippendale last August.
One of the nine recommendations proposes a new offence be created “for medical practitioners who carry out certain cosmetic services and treatment in an unlicensed private health facility”.
Other recommendations include tighter regulations for the prescribing, storage and use of drugs commonly used in procedures, as well as increasing red tape around extreme body modification procedures carried out by non-medical practitioners.
NSW Health has also recommended state and federal health ministers protect the term “cosmetic surgeon”.
“The use of this title can be seen to imply that a medical practitioner has a form of specialist registration and could be seen as misleading to patients,” the report noted. “It is recommended consideration be given to restricting the title ‘cosmetic surgeon’.”
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The recommendations come after The Saturday Telegraphrevealed medical school graduates were calling themselves cosmetic “surgeons” after completing half-day training courses.
Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the recommendations were in “various stages of implementation”.
“It’s important to note these build on previous work the NSW government has done to strengthen regulations.”
However, Dr Chant said no cosmetic procedure was risk-free and people should continue to “do their homework” even with new protections.