Baaps: ‘Fillers Should Be Prescription Drug’

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps) has warned that the unregulated dermal filler market could be the next scandal to rock the cosmetic surgery industry.

Nigel Mercer, former president of Baaps, has made public his distain at the fact that fillers are ‘completely unregulated’, and that anyone who has completed a half-day course are allowed to inject them into patients.

He is unhappy that the effect of this has been to allow hairdressers and beauticians to start offering the wrinkle reducing injections as well as the explosion of the availability of self-injection kits from the internet.

Mr Mercer said: ‘It is a ticking timebomb. We believe [fillers] should be a prescription drug only injected by a doctor. We are contacted by patients who have ended up with unsightly lumps under the skin which can only be removed with surgery, people left with scars after one of their arteries was injected and people can even go blind if it is injected too close to the eye.

‘There are reputable providers, but you see all the emails offering dermal fillers from China and we have no idea what they contain. You can make this stuff using a chemistry set.’

The announcement comes as Baaps pushes for strict rules governing the advertisement of aesthetic treatments such as Botox and dermal fillers – as well as more intrusive procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation and facelifts.

What do you think? Do you use dermal fillers? Do you think the industry should be regulated? Let us know!

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