Rogue cosmetic nurse’s botched procedure while suspended
A nurse had been suspended from practising — but that didn’t stop her performing a botched cosmetic procedure with horrifying results.
A woman was left with an altered face that could take four to five years to fix after a dodgy cosmetic procedure from a suspended enrolled nurse.
Tanya Bechara pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday to one charge of knowingly holding herself out to be registered as a health practitioner.
The 41-year-old appeared from court over video link from hotel quarantine in Sydney, where she was holed up with her 18-month-old son after returning from a trip to Uganda chasing her ex-partner, the court was told.
Her dodgy injections in 2018 left a woman still forking out money for doctor’s bills to try to fix her face, “too embarrassed and ashamed to be seen in public”.
Prosecutor Kylie Walsh told the court Bechara was formerly the director of beauty clinic Radiance Cosmetics, based in Sydney.
She has since sold it to a family member for $100,000, and there is no suggestion the current business is linked to Bechara’s illegal practices.
Bechara was suspended as an enrolled nurse on February 26, 2018, after being found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of NSW for performing unsupervised injectable cosmetic procedures.
But that didn’t stop her advertising on Radiance Cosmetics’ Instagram page after the suspension that it would offer procedures for one day in Melbourne.
Bechara and a registered nurse travelled to Victoria on November 17, 2018.
The registered nurse — who the victim thought was an assistant — felt “uncomfortable” with the situation but was “intimidated” by Bechara, Ms Walsh said.
The victim, who was not named in court, thought something was off about the appointment.
But she still handed over $1600 after her under-eyes and lips were injected.
The victim noticed Bechara did not have a medical practitioner on video chat as was usual practice, and she did not disinfect the victim’s face.
She did not ask the victim to fill out any forms, did not give her a receipt or itemised invoice, and did not give her any after-care instructions.
She did not show her the products or explain what she was putting into her face.
The court heard Bechara treated 15 patients that day but did not keep any patient records.
After the appointment the victim felt pain in her face.
She had never felt that type of pain after an injected cosmetic procedure before, Ms Walsh said.
“Her face started to swell up which she had not experienced in the past,” she said.
“The results were uneven … her top lip hooked over her bottom lip.”
The victim went to a doctor and was told the blue colouring under her eye could last “four to five years”, the court was told.
In a statement to the court, the victim said she felt “frustrated, angry, depressed and anxious” after the botched job.
“I felt very insecure about my physical appearance,” she said.
“I was too embarrassed and ashamed to be seen in public.
“My face is still in the process of being corrected.”
She said she needed ongoing medical treatment and was in “financial hardship to correct this crime”.
Bechara’s lawyer Sean Cash asked the magistrate for leniency, explaining Bechara was in a tough financial position after following the father of her toddler to Uganda to try to convince him to continue the relationship.
“It really is a sad and difficult time for her,” he said.
He said after the baby was born in September 2019, the man returned to Africa in July 2020.
“(She is receiving) no financial support from the father of her little boy,” he said.
He said she was trying to re-register as a nurse.
He said performing cosmetic injections while suspended was a “silly decision on her behalf and she acknowledges that”.
The matter returns to court on Monday.