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“Ghost” Practitioner Botched Cosmetic Procedures Overview:
- Who: Campaign group Save Face has raised concerns over a rise in botched non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
- Why: At-home cosmetic procedures are allegedly performed by unlicensed and untrained practitioners who abandon their clients after things inevitably start to go wrong.
- Where: The issue has led to new legislation being passed in the United Kingdom.
The campaign group Save Face has raised concerns over a rise in unlicensed and unqualified practitioners performing botched botox and other cosmetic procedures on patients around the UK.
Patients who get at-home procedures done by so-called “ghost” practitioners are ultimately abandoned by them when it does not go correctly, according to the group, which operates nationwide as a government-approved register for accredited non-surgical treatment practitioners, The Guardian reports.
Save Face says there was an increase in advertising for at-home cosmetic procedures on social media during COVID-19 lockdowns and that the number of complaints it received over botched procedures rose from 378 in 2017 to 2,083 in 2000.
Consumers who responded to the advertisements, meanwhile, would only know the social media account and a telephone number for the practitioner performing the procedure, the group said.
‘Ghost’ Practitioners ‘Disappear’ When Things Go Wrong
Ashton Collins, the director of Save Face, told The Guardian that the “ghost” practitioners performing the procedures have no experience, and that, when things start to go wrong a few days later, disappear without a trace.
“They disappear, leaving clients, who have quite often suffered serious and permanent harm at their hands, to desperately seek help from someone who might be just as unscrupulous,” Collins told The Guardian.
Collins says the cycle then repeats itself as the “ghost” practitioners create new social media accounts and get a new phone number to get new clients.
The issue has led to new laws being created meant to curb the rise of botched cosmetic procedures in the country, The Guardian reports, following a year-long investigation into the industry by the all-party parliamentary group on beauty, aesthetics and wellbeing.
The new legislation requires that anyone who performs cosmetic, non-surgical procedures to be licensed to do so and creates new standards which must be met, such as those related to hygiene and safety.
Carolyn Harris, co-chair of the group, told The Guardian they found the regulations for non-surgical, cosmetic procedures were “out of date” and allowed anyone to perform procedures without having the qualifications to do them.
“This has left consumers at risk and undermined the industry’s ability to develop,” Harris told The Guardian.
Have you received a botched cosmetic procedure from a “ghost” practitioner you found on social media? Let us know in the comments!
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