Surgery

• Tighter regulation of non-surgical cosmetic procedures welcome

  5th Sep 2023

  Lawyers welcome Ahpra’s move, announced today, to increase regulation of the non-surgical cosmetic procedures industry, and introduce new guidelines for health practitioners advertising and providing fillers, Botox injections and other aesthetic treatments.

• New cosmetic surgery advertising guidelines must be proactively enforced to be effective

  3rd Apr 2023

  New advertising guidelines specific to cosmetic surgery released today by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) are welcome but will only work if they are proactively enforced, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• Cosmetic surgery advertising concerns remain despite release of review report

  1st Sep 2022

  The recommendations made as a result of Ahpra and the Medical Board of Australia's review of the cosmetic surgery industry are not strong enough to improve patient safety quickly, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

   

• Rules regarding use of ‘cosmetic surgeon’ title needed to protect patients

  27th Aug 2021

  The use of the term ‘cosmetic surgeon’ by doctors without appropriate, specialist surgery qualifications can confuse potential patients, says the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA).

• The Urogynaecological Mesh scandal

  7th Sep 2017

  Approximately 50% of women who have had children will suffer some degree of pelvic organ prolapse. For thousands of those women, urogynaecological surgical mesh has been presented as a viable option. It is only recently that public has been made aware of the associated physical and psychological complications. 

• Cosmetic Surgery: the end of an unregulated medical specialty?

  19th Oct 2016

  In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of cosmetic surgery being performed in Australia. Cosmetic surgery is no longer only for the rich and famous; it is becoming more popular and accepted within the community at large. The increase in the availability of cosmetic surgery has led to stiff competition between providers, driving down prices.

  With this increase in use, there have been a number of recently reported incidents where patients have suffered adverse reactions during cosmetic surgery procedures or from patients unhappy with the results of their surgery, which highlights the lack of regulation of the industry.