Cowboy laser clinics will scar thousands

Plans to end inspections of cosmetic surgeries is likely to lead to many more patients being burnt or seriously scarred, admits polity report. Thousands of persons undergoing laser treatment could be left with burns and scars as a result of management plans to end inspections of clinics, the Department of Health has admitted. Up to 3, 400 more patients could be harmed by cosmetic procedures to remove a mole, tattoo or unwanted hair, according to a consultation paper on the move drawn up by Whitehall officials themselves. The change, which critics claim will allow cowboy operators to open premises that have poor safety standards thanks to they would no longer necessitate to apply for a licence, comes into effect on 1 October. A two-page appendix to the paper, headed 'Deregulation of lasers and lights - likely effect on the number of adverse incidents', said that harmful outcomes may double. It reads: 'Laser and brilliance treatments ... are potentially
harmful and they will generate adverse incidents ... Deregulation would generate an extra 1, 700-3, 400 adverse incidents per year.' There are already an estimated 3, 400 each year. 'It's shocking that the administration is prepared to countenance thousands more humanity being injured as a result of this deregulation - and it's an astonishing stuff to admit, ' said David Gault, a consultant plastic surgeon who specialises in laser treatments. 'While some of these "adverse incidents" involve only minor scarring or pigmentation, people's sight can also be damaged by a powerful laser being shone into their eyes. The psychological harm from these things happening is, in my view, harsher than the physical damage human beings suffer, ' added Gault, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons' spokesman on the issue. Skin laser treatments are a booming area of the cosmetic surgery industry, with an estimated 340, 000 per
formed in England alone annually. They are also used to remove wrinkles, freckles and unsightly 'spider veins'. Previously only found in specialist hospitals, laser machines are increasingly used in beauty salons and hairdressers. Ministers have been criticised for scrapping the existing system whereby the Healthcare Commission, the NHS watchdog for England, inspects and monitors the safety of the 900-plus laser clinics. Critics have argued that the change, designed to lighten the commission's workload, will end up costing more money than is saved. The paper said: 'Based on the estimate of increasing the number of adverse incidents by between 1, 700 and 3, 400 cases, this represents a yearly extra cost of treating these cases of between 900, 000 and 1.8m.' The costs, it added, were likely to fall on the NHS. That compares with 1.4m a year spent by the watchdog conducting initial inspections of laser surgery premises when they first register,
monitoring annual self-assessment forms submitted by clinics and carrying gone a further safety visit to all 922 licensed premises every five years. Full text: http://computerandtechnologies.com/technology/news_2008-08-22-19-00-04-368.html