Wrinkle Fillers 'A Crisis Waiting To Happen'

Injectable anti-wrinkle treatments are a "crisis waiting to happen", Government health advisers have warned.

A review of cosmetic procedures, ordered by the Department of Health, found that widely-used dermal fillers are as loosely regulated as toothbrushes and ballpoint pens, yet they have potentially serious side effects.

It says the injections should in future be available only on prescription and used solely by qualified practitioners.

In the US, where there are much tighter regulations, just 14 products are on the market. But in Europe there are 190 different types of filler on sale.

The NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, who led the independent review, said: "The most striking thing is that anybody, anywhere, anytime can give a filler to anybody else and that is bizarre.

"Dermal fillers - which are things you inject into people and put beneath their skin, and they stay there for a period of time - should be treated the same way as other types of implants."

The review of the cosmetic surgery industry was ordered in the wake of the PIP scandal, in which up to 40,000 British women were given breast implants that were filled with non-medical grade silicone.

Sir Bruce said the debacle had led to a "cacophony" of concern about the industry.

His final report to ministers calls for a ban on financial inducements and time-limited deals that could influence vulnerable consumers.

Patients should also be better informed by surgeons about the risks and potential benefits of a treatment, and there should be an insurance scheme to pay compensation when treatments go wrong, the report says.

The review team also criticised TV shows such as The Only Way is Essex (Towie) for trivialising cosmetic procedures.

Rita Payton nearly died in a private hospital after surgery on her nose went badly wrong. The surgeon sliced off the tip of her nose, and removed too much cartilage causing one nostril to collapse. She came round from the anaesthetic bleeding profusely.

"I was gagging for breath," she said.

"I was choking on my own blood. It was horrible - I was pressing the bell but nobody came.

"The pain in my head was like someone was hitting me with a very big hammer. It was excruciating."

The surgeon has since left the UK to work abroad.

Another surgeon, Mr Rizwan Alvi, reconstructed Ms Payton's nose, although she is still scarred.

He said: "This is as bad as it gets. Complications can happen, but it is essential a surgeon looks after the patient afterwards."

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said there was currently a "significant risk of people falling into the hands of cowboy firms or individuals whose only aim is to make a quick profit".

The Department of Health will announce a series of controls on the industry later this summer.

The UK's largest chain of cosmetic surgery clinics, Transform, supports reform of the industry.

Since the PIP scandal it has made more information available to patients, including infection rates and details of how often surgery needs to be re-done.

But chief operating officer Pat Dunion said tighter rules for clinics will not prevent another PIP scare.

"The whole PIP scandal was caused by a fraudulent manufacturer and a failure of the regulatory body to check the quality of the implants," he said.

"We urge the Government to address that now. There is a need for the regulatory bodies to come into hospitals and take sample implants and check the quality of them."