Lip fillers must be prescription only, MPs say – as Sun campaign demands change
LIP fillers must be prescription only, MPs have urged, after a Sun campaign demanded change in the industry.
A new damning report has called on the government to address the "complete absence" of regulations for botox and fillers.
It comes after The Sun's 'Had Our Fill' campaign helped pass a law banning children from getting fillers and botox.
Our vital work helped put a stop to a whopping 41,000 botox injections from being given to under 18s every year.
From the autumn, when the new laws come in, a doctor, registered medical practitioner, or a health professional has to administer the jabs where there is a medical need in kids.
The popularity of cosmetic treatments has soared in recent years, and MPs have warned consumers are at risk due to a lack of rules policing practitioners.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing now wants fillers to be prescription only, with the people doing it legally required to have regulated qualifications.
They want customers to have a face-to-face consultation with a medic before any procedures like lip fillers for a mandatory psychological pre-screening.
Currently, anyone can carry out any treatment with minimal legal restrictions on what qualifications they must have to be able to safely do procedures.
"It's like the Wild West," inquiry co-chairwoman and Labour MP Carolyn Harris blasted.
Had Our Fill campaign
BRITAIN'S Botox and filler addiction is fuelling a £2.75 billion industry.
The wrinkle-busting and skin plumping treatments account for 9 out of 10 cosmetic procedures.
50% of women and 40% of men aged 18 to 34 want to plump up their pouts and tweak their faces.
Fillers are totally unregulated and incredibly you don’t need to have ANY qualifications to buy and inject them.
83% of botched jobs are performed by people with no medical training, often in unsanitary environments - with devastating results.
Women have been left with rotting tissue, needing lip amputations, lumps and even blinded by botched jobs.
Despite the dangers, there is no legal age limit for dermal filler, which is why Fabulous has launched Had Our Fill, a campaign calling for:
- fillers to be made illegal for under 18s
- a crackdown on social media sites plugging fillers
- a Government-backed central register for practitioners with accredited qualifications
We're working in conjunction with and are backed by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) and British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
We want anyone considering a non-surgical cosmetic treatment to be well-informed to make a safe decision.
We’ve Had Our Fill of rogue traders and sham clinics - have you?
There are serious risks involved in having lip fillers or botox, with customers often not properly informed by untrained people administering the treatment.
People are at risk of rotting tissue, horrific infections - even blindness, with estimates that 200 people have lost their sight after having fillers.
If too much is injected, or it's put into the wrong place, it can put pressure on the arteries and cut off the blood supply, which ultimately can cause the affected tissue or organ to die.
In one shocking case, a 52-year-old woman suffered a horrific reaction around 15 hours after having hyaluronic acid fillers in her nasolabial fold.
Her skin was red, painful and starting to turn purple, plus it also felt tender every time her heart beat.
Within 48 hours she had a nasty, yellow infection and the skin was starting to die.
MPs are pushing for laws to be passed that would see customers have a psychological evaluation and that all practitioners have a standard of training before being able to practice.
'WILD WEST'
Today, the APPG made 17 recommendations so that people wanting these treatments are better protected.
While the group highlighted that there are some great practitioners, it stated that all practitioners need appropriate training to deliver advanced aesthetic treatments.
Co-chairs of the APPG, Carolyn Harris MP and Judith Cummins MP said that for too long, there have been "next to no limits" on who can carry out aesthetic treatments.
This they said includes what qualifications they must have, or where they can administer them.
They explained: "We launched this inquiry as we were deeply concerned that as the number of advanced treatments on the market continues to grow, the regulation remains fragmented, obscure and out of date which puts the public at risk.
"We were also particularly concerned about the advertising and social media promotion of these treatments and how to make sure vulnerable people, such as children and those at risk from mental ill-health, are protected.
"We strongly urge the Government to implement the recommendations in our report and to take action to improve to improve the situation for the benefit of the industry and public safety. Maintaining the status quo is simply not an option.”
'DEEPLY CONCERNED'
The recommendations in the report include setting a national minimum standard for practitioner training.
Other recommendations would mean that practitioners hold a regulated qualification in line with national standards and that a national licensing framework would be introduced.
The fourth recommendation is that fillers become prescription only - which means the products would have to be regulated.
The others recommend patients have a psychological pre-screening and that the ban on under 18s, spearheaded by The Sun's 'Had Our Fill' campaign is extended to dermal fillers and other invasive treatments.
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Place advertising restrictions on dermal fillers and other invasive aesthetic treatments and requiring social media platforms to do more to curb misleading ads and posts promoting these treatments were other recommendations.
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Harris and Cummings said the recommendations are based on evidence from public inquiry sessions and written submissions.
They have come from health bodies, consumers and regulatory agencies in the industry.