Following separate investigations two women operating a cosmetic treatment business from an apartment in Melbourne, and a third woman operating an unrelated cosmetic treatment business in the city’s CBD, have been permanently banned from providing any cosmetic services after they were found administering substances not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and without appropriate qualifications.
Health Complaints Commissioner Karen Cusack said Jing Sun, also known as ‘Mina’, and Yufei Mo, also known as ‘Euphy’, had operated Little M Image Management Workshop (Little M) from their shared residential apartment for several years, using substances that were allegedly illegally imported from Korea for cosmetic treatments.
Ms Cusack said an investigation found Ms Sun and Ms Mo had failed to provide health services in a safe and ethical way.
She said the investigation into Ms Sun and Ms Mo’s provision of cosmetic services found the women were not qualified to administer Botox or dermal filler injections, and were not providing treatment in line with what is considered good and safe industry practice.
The separate prohibition orders issued against Ms Sun and Ms Mo this week prohibit them from:
- Advertising, offering or providing any cosmetic surgical or medical procedures, including procedures that involve piercing or cutting the skin (such as injectable cosmetic treatments).
- Establishing, directing or operating any business that involves advertising, offering or providing cosmetic surgical or medical procedures.
- Possessing, storing or administering any Schedule 4 poisons, including Botox and hyaluronic acid injection preparations (dermal fillers).
In a second investigation, Ms Cusack said a further two separate prohibition orders had been issued against Ying (Angela) Wang and her business Angel’s Dreamworld.
She said an investigation found Ms Wang and Angel’s Dreamworld had beached the code of conduct for general health service providers, including by failing to adopt standard precautions for infection control.
The orders prohibit both Ms Wang and Angel’s Dreamworld from advertising, offering or providing any cosmetic surgical or medical procedures, and from possessing, storing and administering any Schedule Four drugs for cosmetic use, including Botulinum toxin (Botox) and hyaluronic acid injection preparations (dermal fillers).
“Most cosmetic injectables, including Botox and dermal fillers, are prescription-only medicines and they legally must be prescribed and administered by a registered health practitioner, such as a doctor,” Ms Cusack said.
“There are risks, side effects and possible complications with any cosmetic treatment and the administration of procedures by an unregistered person can greatly increase the chance of something going wrong.”
Ms Cusack said the HCC had received 179 complaints and enquiries about cosmetic treatments carried out by general health service providers (non-registered health practitioners not regulated by national law under the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency AHPRA) since February 2017.
“The complaints we’ve received include services such as Botox, dermal fillers, laser therapy and face and skin treatments,” she said.
“These two investigations follow a number of other investigations conducted by the HCC into the cosmetic treatment industry and highlight the prevalence of the problems within this industry.
“Any person considering undertaking a cosmetic treatment should carefully make an informed decision and ask the provider about:
- their qualifications and experience
- the products they use
- the risks involved
- if they have insurance in the instance something does go wrong
- where the procedure will be carried out.
“There are many safe and ethical cosmetic treatment providers but unfortunately not all abide by what is considered best practice. That is why it’s important for any person considering cosmetic treatments to educate themselves about what can go wrong and what they have a right to expect from their provider.
“If your expectations for safe and ethical healthcare aren’t met, or if you believe the provider is operating outside the code of conduct for general health services, please call the HCC on 1300 582 113.
“We’re passionate about the role we play in supporting safe and ethical healthcare and the best way we can do this is to work with the public to protect Victorians, by investigating providers who may not be doing the right thing.”