Cosmetic surgery ‘must be regulated to avoid personal injury’

Posted 17/11/2009

A new report has called for better standards of regulation in the cosmetic surgery sector in order to protect patients from personal injury.

Medical experts have commented in the Royal Society of Medicine’s Clinical Risk journal that a lack of scrutiny on the industry is exposing people to the risk of clinical negligence.

Concerns were raised over the commercial focus and heavy use of marketing in the sector, as well as a lack of testing for experimental and potentially dangerous techniques.

As a result, the industry professionals responsible for the report have called for government action, including the introduction of more regulation on practitioners and advertising.

Foad Nahai, president of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: “There is no question that this is a patient safety issue of paramount importance and I take our governments to task for not addressing it.”

This follows a statement from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons last month which raised concerns about underqualified practitioners being able to market directly to consumers.

Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp, a clinical negligence specialist at Ashtons Legal, said: “Ashtons Legal would welcome the call for tighter regulation of the cosmetic industry, having seen a rise in the number of cases over the last five years and a wide variation in the standard of treatment.”