Ambrosia Services

Crackdown on backstreet Botox clinics

Aug 4 2006

Robin Turner, Western Mail

A WELSH skin specialist has welcomed a crackdown on beauty clinics after evidence emerged that patients are being disfigured by rogue operators.

Unlicensed treatments that can harm the health of those seeking a youthful look include laser therapy, Botox injections and anti-wrinkle skin fillers.

The Healthcare Commission now plans to use covert surveillance to monitor thousands of unregistered clinics using lasers and intense pulsed lights to remove facial hair and skin blemishes.

So-called "mystery shoppers" will check whether the clinics are trading unlawfully by offering services without any official checks on safety standards. Offenders could be prosecuted if they fail to register after warnings.

The commission is to produce a leaflet for people considering cosmetic surgery to help them reduce risks. While clinics offering surgery such as liposuction and tummy tucks should be registered, non-surgical procedures are not yet regulated.

Yesterday, Dr Sharon Blackford, consultant dermatologist at Swansea's Singleton Hospital said it was time unregistered operators were brought to book.

She said, "I have had people coming to me with hyper pigmentation (dark patches on the skin) after laser treatments or sometimes rashes.

"One of the problems is that it is relatively expensive to set up a laser clinic so operators want to get as many customers as they can.

"But practitioners need different lasers for different treatments.

"For instance different types of laser are needed for treatments like port wine stain removal, tattoo removal, wrinkle treatment or acne scarring.

"But some operators may only have one laser and might try to use it for all conditions. Customers would not get value for money and there could be a reaction to the treatment."
The Health Commission is not only concerned about laser treatments, it wants to inspect the thousands of hairdressers, nail bars and backstreet operators who provide Botox injections and cosmetic skin fillers to treat wrinkles.

There is no obligation for Botox injection providers to register with any authority at present. But Kate Lobley, the Health Commission's head of operations, warned, "There are too many people providing healthcare services who are operating outside the law and we have to do something about it.

"We receives about 50 complaints a year from people who have been damaged by laser or intense pulsed lights."

Last year, Welsh doctor Alan Jones warned that men and women going for treatment at informal "Botox parties" could be left with a "death mask face".

Dr Jones of Killay, Swansea, said he had treated casualties from what labelled "inject and run" cosmetic surgery evenings.

He added, "Luckily, Botox is a safe drug but overuse can lead to a death mask face where there is not a flicker of facial movement and this can last for three months."

Dr Jones was told of a Botox party which took place in a house in the Swansea area involving a practitioner from Eastern Europe.

Guests were charged hundreds of pounds for an injection. But the drug, adapted from the deadly botulism toxin and injected into crow's feet or frown lines to paralyse them, was watered down.

Dr Peter Misra, of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery said he was also concerned about the unlicensed operators. "In an atmosphere of Botox parties where champagne-sipping guests are injected with botulinum toxin it is easy to forget that it is a potent neurotoxin and that its very long-term effects are still unknown," he said.

Experienced GP Dr Jones, who has opened his own skin care clinic in the Village Surgery in Killay, has been calling for greater regulation of Botox practitioners.

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posted by Cheryl Levesque @ 3:56 PM