We have recently agreed to act on behalf of a client who has suffered significant irreparable facial scarring/disfigurement as a consequence of dermal fillers, she underwent earlier this year @ a slick, web-advertising, brochure wielding, ‘wellness’ clinic in Perth’s metro area (can’t you just picture the ‘world muzac’/running water + Buddha heads!). We have now handled several such cases, including an even more serious case in which the patient was left with enduring face drop due to nerve damage during injection of filler to her upper lip area.
Despite assurances to the contrary, it seems the operator of the clinic performing the filler injection was not a registered nurse (though she may have been a nurse of some description/form at some earlier time). We are yet to find details of what her ‘medically trained’ qualifications entail….
Further, it appears the dermal filler she injected to our client’s face, which lead to her repeated infections/abscesses, may well not have been a recognised, TGA approved product. A suggestion has arisen that instead, the clinic operator was buying filler + botox supplies online from destination unknown (no doubt at ‘competitive rates’).
Interestingly, because the operator was not at the relevant time a registered nurse, I understand it is difficult for AHPRA (the old Nurses Board) to act. Their jurisdiction is broadly limited to nurses.
The case is [yet another] cautionary tale about cosmetic treatment providers. Why this isn’t something governments regulate tightly is unclear. Why someone injecting foreign material into someone’s face – or irradiating their body (in IPL) isn’t seen as something needing close regulation is hard to fathom…
Apart from anything, I have difficulty understanding how the operators of such businesses, in contrast to properly qualified health professionals, can avoid a mandatory requirement of appropriate professional indemnity insurance…..
But perhaps, its just me..