As previously reported by Lawyers Weekly, the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) was preparing a policy document that recommended strong regulation of advertising to protect the public from “terrible” complications. The document, released recently, calls for a ban on promoting misleading and false information to prospective patients.

“Too often people choose to undergo a cosmetic procedure, and make a decision about which practitioner to use, without all the relevant information – and this needs to change,” Ms Watson said. “Our lawyers are seeing many people who are living with the negative physical and emotional consequences of undergoing cosmetic procedures without having fully understood the risks involved.”

The ALA is concerned that social media, and especially targeted advertising on these platforms, may inflate a patient’s sense of their own knowledge about regulated health services, particularly if those advertisements do not clarify whether the practitioner has the correct qualifications. This means patients are looking into surgery without understanding how the procedure may not meet their needs.

Younger women, in particular, are more vulnerable to these advertisements. Recent research found that social media adversely impact a young woman’s healthcare choice in relation to cosmetic procedures, and frequent posts by practitioners are “potentially very powerful in subconsciously persuading young women to undergo invasive cosmetic treatment” without first considering all the relevant information.

Ms Watson said it must be mandatory for practitioners to clearly identify their qualifications in their marketing material and state whether or not they are specialist plastic surgeons. She said it should not take media exposes for the regulator to take this into account and ensure advertisements meet guidelines.

“Too many people who seek legal assistance after botched surgery are surprised to find that the ‘cosmetic surgeon’ they have consulted has no recognised surgical qualifications, and the risks and the invasiveness of the procedure were much greater than they understood,” Ms Watson explained of the uptick of legal matters.

Currently, a class action is examining whether The Cosmetic Institute (TCI) was responsible for a number of adverse outcomes suffered by women following breast augmentation surgeries. The allegations focused on the representations made to patients, including that they received overwhelmingly positive feedback from past customers, that their services “changed lives”, and made customers feel confident.

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In a now-resolved matter, general practitioner Dr Leslie Blackstock has had his registration cancelled for seven years following complaints from 12 patients in respect of his failure to perform appropriate pre-operative assessments and his failure to obtain proper informed concern. In several allegations, Dr Blackstock was said to have sedated patients during surgery before seeking consent.

The ALA said the current regulations do not adequately protect prospective patients, but particularly vulnerable people, from misleading advertising and cosmetic procedures. It contends that greater transparency and resources are required, in addition to substantial deterrents to discourage practitioners from similar advertising.

Ms Watson said the ALA also agrees that higher financial penalties are required for breaches of the advertising code, as proposed in the Health Practitioner Regulation Law Amendment Bill 2021. These penalties should act as a primary deterrent.

“It’s critically important that the messages communicated by cosmetic clinics make it clear to people, particularly young people, that cosmetic procedures by their very nature are risky and can involve complex surgery,” Ms Watson commented.