THE news that the federal government will crack down on the $1.4 billion cosmetic surgery industry is music to the ears of those charged with supporting the victims of botched surgeries - but "time will tell" whether meaningful change will occur, they warn.
Health Minister Mark Butler has announced they will amend the law to ensure anyone performing a cosmetic procedure is properly qualified, with the proposed changes focusing on who can call themselves a surgeon and ensuring procedures are carried out in safe, hygienic and accredited facilities.
Tahnee Woods, a senior associate at Catherine Henry Lawyers in Newcastle, said they had helped more than 150 clients of a "disgraced" cosmetic surgeon, as well as others who had sustained "permanent physical and psychiatric injury" from botched breast augmentations, labiaplasty and liposuction procedures.
"Having 'surgeon' in the title leads patients to falsely believe that the practitioner has additional surgery qualifications," she said. "In reality - in Australia, any medical practitioner with a licence can perform cosmetic surgery and procedures. There are many medical practitioners performing cosmetic procedures with varying qualifications, training and titles making it confusing for patients."
The system had been operating "unchecked" for too long and needed immediate action at federal and state levels. Recommendations made by a recent industry review by AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia had not come with any "meaningful timelines" , which were paramount to ensuring that cosmetic "cowboys" could not continue to operate as they have.
Dr John Newton, a specialist plastic surgeon based in Lake Macquarie, said the public was being misled into believing that doctors describing themselves as "cosmetic surgeons" are highly trained, fully qualified and government-registered surgeons.
Among others, he had once been tasked with trying to rectify a "facelift" - performed by a local GP in his rooms - that had resulted in "palsy" on one side of a patient's face. The patient thought the doctor was a plastic surgeon.
"What we have at the moment is a whole bunch of people who are not properly trained, who are not necessarily able to call themselves 'registered surgeons' in this country, performing procedures in poorly-regulated, unaccredited facilities in inadequate circumstances," he said. "We need a declaration as to who can call themselves a surgeon in this country, and the provision of safe healthcare as it pertains to cosmetic surgery procedures. That is absolutely key."
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