Australians undergoing cosmetic treatments could potentially be exposed to dangerous, unregulated practitioners, according to an investigation in this month’s Australian Women’s Weekly.
The death of Sydney woman Jean Huang, 35, following a botched breast augmentation procedure exposed a raft of gaps that allow unqualified people to operate lasers and inject fillers, and prompted calls for tighter regulations of the cosmetic industry.
WATCH: The reason this 17-year-old school girl had lip fillers.
One leading surgeon said it’s clear there is a “significant underworld of completely illegal trade” going on.
“There are lots of people in this industry who are unregulated, who are not who they say they are,” Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons President Mark Ashton says.
Raids by NSW Health following the shocking death of Ms Huang uncovered illegally imported medications and equipment in Sydney. Drugs of unknown quality and safety were seized.
Last June, the NSW Health Complaints Commission warned there had been an increase in unregistered practitioners performing cosmetic procedures in private houses and hotel rooms. The rogue operators were using social media to advertise, and were performing procedures including double eyelid suturing, nose bridge lifts, protein suture facelifts and cosmetic injections.
As The Australian Women’s Weekly reveals this month, there are also legal grey areas. The Cosmetic Physicians College of Australasia says a trend of doctors prescribing schedule 4 medicines via Skype is a growing problem — exploiting a legal loophole created to allow regional patients to consult with specialists from their home towns. If something goes wrong, Australia’s patchwork regulatory framework means it can be hard for people to get justice.
Melbourne woman Niki Richardson has been fighting for justice ever since she was burned while having Erbium laser treatment at a Victorian clinic in February 2016.
“I was left with weeping wounds that left me unable to leave my house for over a month,” Niki says.
“The pain was just — there’s no words to describe it,” she says in an interview in the month’s edition of The Australian Women’s Weekly, on sale now.
