Cosmetic Industry Will Only Be Regulated If There's A Disaster
It's feared somebody will have to pay ultimate price before dodgy cosmetic treatments are policed.
Now we've all thought about it - Botox, teeth whitening, fillers, even a boob job or a nip tuck.
These are all absolutely fine – if they're done properly.
But what if it goes horribly wrong?
Our reporter Charlotte Murphy has been scratching the surface on cut price procedures, botched up beauty jobs and DIY disasters.
You may think of so called cowboy firms in the building trade, but it’s just as bad if not worse in the cosmetic industry.
It’s unregulated, things go wrong and people get hurt.
But even worse, our health service is left to pick up the pieces and emergency services are struggling to cope with thousands of patients left behind when things go horribly wrong.
Associate Professor Neil McLean is a leading surgeon at Nuffield Health in Jesmond and a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS)
He’s warning that it will be too late until the government brings in policing on cut price procedures and dodgy online products.
He said:
“The worst that could happen is a patient could die… unfortunately there’s going to have to be a disaster before the government legislates on this.”
Hear his full interview here:
Associate Professor McLean is worried about the pressure this is putting on our NHS, they agree.
Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England’s National Medical Director, said:
“Everybody should be aware that all cosmetic surgery carries risks. The more complex the surgery, the greater the risks. Things can go badly wrong, even with fillers. That's why in 2013, following the PIP breast implant scandal, I recommended greater regulation of people performing procedures and the institutions where those procedures are performed. This is a public safety issue of increasing importance.”
Bev from Washington tells us she absolutely loves a cosmetic top-up, but would always research it first.
Listen to her reaction to calls for better regulation and find out everything that she’s had done here:
We've spoken to people in Middlebrough to find out if they’d ever take a risk on unregulated cosmetic products:
This week we’re looking into exactly what cut price procedures are, why we do it, how we get our hands on it and what’s being done about it to protect people in the North East.
Follow the hashtags #scratchthesurface and #sts for all the latest updates.