Beauty, Surgery
This comes in the wake of the PIP breast implant crisis where about 40,000 British women had substandard implants fitted which were supplied by a French manufacturer using illegal industrial silicone.
The cosmetic surgery business is worth £2 Billion a year, and new legislation will set out to protect people from ‘scandalous’ sales techniques used by some companies which prey on the vulnerable.
It is thought that tougher rules will be likely to apply to these areas:
Unlike the motor industry that can contact owners should a component fail, the medical profession currently have no way of tracing patients if implants or devices fail. A previous attempt at a breast implant register foundered after confidentially concerns, although hospitals collect patient data on everything else from blood type to time of admittance and should do the same with implants.
Dr Yannis Alexandrides the Fighting Fifty Expert Cosmetic Surgeon welcomes a review by the Department of Health into how to better regulate the cosmetic surgery industry and prevent so-called ‘cowboys’ performing procedures without comprehensive training.
Dr Alexandrides stresses that the increasingly popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures (which are far outpacing the increase in traditional surgical procedures) should not be overlooked, “Botox and dermal fillers are medical treatments. These procedures are very safe, but like any medical treatment there can be adverse reactions and complications, so it is essential they are carried out under the supervision of a fully-trained doctor. New regulations and minimum training standards will improve safety and patient care”.
He continues, “At 111 Harley Street, the number of patients coming in for non-surgical cosmetic treatments is rising faster than for any other procedure. As the government prepares to investigate our industry, it is important that in addition to remaining mindful of the recent controversy surrounding breast implants, the team of experts look forward to ‘up-and-coming’ treatments to ensure good practice and, most importantly, patient safety in the years to come.”
We asked Antonia Mariconda, The Cosmedic Coach, Author and Expert for her reaction to today’s news, Antonia said “I am delighted to hear about the intended proposed crackdown, whilst this is a welcome and much needed area of improvement I am dismayed that it took such a massive scandal such as the PIP Implants crisis to draw attention to an industry that needed much tighter regulating and review, so many women have paid the price this year to an industry that clearly needs shaping up”.
“I am particularly pleased to hear that surgeons will need enhanced training and that patients suffering from adverse experiences will be entitled to some kind of protection and recompense. Cosmetic Surgery is a serious decision to make and patients should be treated with the right care and professionalism from start to finish, sadly I have seen too many cases of people being blatantly taken advantage of and abused by an aggressive marketing and money spinning industry”.
“Every day my support group is flooded with enquiries from women who have been left devastated as a result of cowboy sales tactics and surgeons who have no after care policies, particularly guilty are large commercial surgery chains but that does not omit some individual surgeons also guilty of poor quality of work, customer service, and general care, I am pleased that the pressure put on the government by the shocking events of this year has at least forced them to take steps in the right direction”
