British women seeking to reduce the signs of ageing are acting as guinea-pigs for unproven and ineffective cosmetic treatments that are banned in America, leading plastic surgeons said yesterday.

From lunchtime breast augmentation to “fat-melting” treatments, scores of untested new products are freely available and putting consumers at risk, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.

Meanwhile, a lack of regulation of non-surgical treatments such as Botox injections and dermal fillers has allowed “cowboy” practices to thrive, the association said.

Every year 415,000 people in Britain have non-surgical cosmetic treatments, but concerns have been raised about hairdressers, dentists and beauticians administering injections and fillers without proper training.

Ministers decided this year against introducing legislation to control the market — opting to let the industry regulate itself. But surgeons say this means that useless or dangerous products are being marketed directly to shoppers in salons or via the internet.

Speaking at a conference in London yesterday, Douglas McGeorge, chairman of the association, highlighted products that had few scientific credentials, including a breast-enlargement procedure known as “celution”, whereby fat or stem cells from the body are injected into the breast.

Fat-melting treatments known as “Lipodissolve” or “Lipostabil” were available on the internet despite having been banned by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority, he said. Other “anti-ageing” injections of vitamins, minerals and herbs (known as mesotherapy), or treatments involving radiowaves, were also offered despite a lack of scientifically valid studies showing that they worked or had any long-term effects.

Isolagen — a dermal filler withdrawn from the US market in 1999 but offered to British customers until three months ago — has been the subject of a legal action against the manufacturers by a group of 50 women who spent thousands of pounds on the product but found that it was ineffective or caused health problems. Norman Waterhouse, specialist tutor in aesthetic surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons, said: “In no other industry or branch of medicine would such a situation be tolerated. Treatments like Isolagen are not subjected to the proper testing or analysis because they are not classed as a drug and in many cases we do not have evidence to show their effects or whether they are safe for even three to five years.”

The decision to allow the industry to regulate itself was taken this year by the Department of Health after consultation. Mr McGeorge said that only the “cowboy” practitioners needed regulation, and these were the least likely to regulate themselves.

Botox injections, which are used to reduce facial wrinkling, were also cited as a treatment where lack of regulation could be harmful.Cosmetic clinics said yesterday that, although some were inspected, regulation was “patchy” and there was always a danger of rogue traders. Mel Braham, chairman of Harley Medical Group, a chain of 17 clinics, said: “The UK needs an equivalent of the Federal Drug Administration to ensure that all new treatments have a single approval channel for both safety and efficacy before being introduced to the UK.” The lack of regulation was “letting UK patients down”, he said.

The Department for Health said last night: “We have every confidence that self-regulation will result in improvements for people choosing these non-surgical cosmetic treatments. We only regulate in cases where the reduction in risks to safety arising from public regulation clearly outweighs the costs and burdens that regulation brings.”

Looking dangerous

Isolagen
A £3,500 filler treatment banned in America in 1999, but introduced in Britain in 2002. It is claimed to be “natural” despite patients’ cells being stored in foetal calf serum. Banned this year after a legal action against the manufacturers

Celution
A “lunchtime boob job” that uses fat and stem cells from the patient’s body as an alternative to implants. Banned in the US but legal in Europe despite fears that it encourages cancer

Flab jabs
Lipodissolve and Lipostabil claim to melt fat through a procedure designed originally to dissolve gallstones. The treatments have no licence for cosmetic use and are banned by the MHRA

Mesotherapy
Injections of chemicals, vitamins, minerals and herbs that have no standardised controls and lack scientifically valid studies documenting their safety or effectiveness

Volumisers
Treatments such as Botox can be administered by untrained practitioners. Sculptra has been marketed by Superdrug as a “liquid facelift”, leading to false expectations

Contour lifts
Surgeons have been critical of the gruesome effects of this surgical procedure, achieved by inserting hooks and a “fishing line” to hold up skin on either side of the face

Sources: BAAPS, Times Database

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