31 octobre, 2007 16:16
Regulate plastic surgery, says MEP
[Posted: Wed 24/10/2007]
Plastic surgery in Ireland should be regulated by European Union standards, according to a Fine Gael MEP.
The Irish Association of Plastic Surgeons has also raised concerns about cosmetic surgery in unregulated clinics.
Mr Higgins said the sector in Ireland suffers from ‘gross under-regulation’.
He claimed that GPs were setting up in cosmetic surgery and carrying out procedures. Mr Higgins referred to concerns expressed by a top Dublin surgeon who had found himself required to operate on people bleeding badly because of botched procedures.
Mr Higgins said he would ask the European Commission to investigate cosmetic surgery across the union and recommend best practices that should be enforced.
Yesterday it was reported that the Association of Plastic Surgeons had expressed its concerns in a submission to the Medical Council.
Dr Michael Earley, a consultant plastic surgeon at the Mater and Temple Street hospitals in Dublin, said there were few members of the Association who had not seen complications after procedures done in private cosmetic surgery clinics. "Patients are being put at risk," he said.
The Medical Council has suspended a French surgeon while a full inquiry is held into his work and after-care. It is understood to be gastric banding, a procedure done on obese people.
