Cosmetic surgery patients at risk, Oireachtas committee hears

Patients are being harmed by the dangerously under-regulated nature of Ireland's cosmetic surgery industry, an Oireachtas committee has been told.

The State currently has no register for practitioners of plastic or cosmetic surgeons, and the absence of an adequate licensing system is putting the lives of patients and consumers in danger, according to a panel of medical experts.

“If you get into a taxi, you expect that the driver has passed the driving test. And yet if you’re undergoing plastic surgery, you may be operated on by a professional who has no surgical qualifications,” said Margaret O’Donnell, president of the Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons (IAPS), a body that aims to promote awareness and understanding of the work done by plastic surgeons.

Along with the problem of doctors misrepresenting themselves as specialists, members of the association also raised serious concerns over the current situation which allows non-medically trained beauticians and beauty therapists to administer cosmetic injections and laser removals.

“I’ve had two patients in the last few months who’ve had skin cancers treated in beauty salons,” said Ms O’Donnell, noting that most non-medical laser and injection treatments involve no form of medical assessment prior to the procedures taking place.

Dr Siobhan Kelly of the Irish College of Ophthalmologists echoed calls from the IAPS to implement a register of cosmetic surgery practitioners and form an overarching regulatory body to deal with the sector. She also recommended the introduction of rigorous advertising standards.

“Advertising can have a negative effect, particularly if it trivialises the risks of procedures, targets vulnerable consumers, or misleads by portraying an outcome that may not be attainable for all,” said Ms Kelly, who joined in calls from colleagues for a clampdown on two-for-one offers, surgeries being offered as competition prizes, and advertising to under 18s.

‘Potentially life-threatening’

"These aren't only the soap stars and the actresses [having plastic surgery]. The people on the street are having them as perfectly normal procedures, and it's trivialised in everyday life. And it's potentially life-threatening," said Dr Patrick Ormond of the Irish Association of Dermatology.

“Within the last four years of my practice I have had two deaths from mismanaged moles in young men,” said Dr Ormond, referring to the consequences of treatments that were performed in other clinics where staff may not have been adequately qualified.

Mentioning the PIP breast implant scandal, where upwards of 10,000 Irish women received faulty implants made by a French manufacturer, Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin expressed his disbelief that issues around the administration of cosmetic procedures still persist.

“It is absolutely unacceptable that, having had this issue addressed previously, the problems continue,” said Mr Ó Caoláin, who also described the situation as “horrendous” before recommending the matter be brought before the Minister for Health urgently.

In her address to the committee, a paediatric specialist in Crumlin Children’s Hospital admitted that severe burns patients’ chances of survival are in danger of being compromised due to a lack of specialist treatment facilities.

"We've had a major issue in that we've had a 20% reduction in our theatre space. Recently we have sent two burns victims to the UK because we didn't feel we had adequate facilities to look after them here," said Dr Patricia Eadie.

Dr Eadie said that Ireland is one of the few developed countries not to have a specialist paediatric burns unit anywhere in the country and that staff at the 14 bed adult burns unit in St James' hospital have had to turn patients away due to a lack of resources.