Healthy skin centre

Call for facial fillers to be regulated

9th January 2012 - Doctors have warned that some patients undergoing anti-ageing injections are being put at unnecessary risk of serious complications because of a loose regulatory system.

The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) says some injectable intradermal fillers - popularly known as 'facial fillers' because of their ability to smooth out wrinkles - could cause serious or irreversible complications. It says the situation is further compounded by the number of inadequately trained practitioners.

Popular procedure

The use of facial fillers is popular in the UK, with hundreds of thousands of procedures performed each year. The BAD says this compares to just 10,000 annual breast augmentation operations - surgery which has been highlighted in recent weeks because of the PIP implant scandal.

Last week The Times reported that there were 160 injectable fillers certified for general sale in the UK.

Medical training

The BAD says that tighter regulations are needed to ensure that all fillers are properly assessed for whether they work as well as for safety. Also, those injecting them need to have enough medical knowledge to avoid damaging the elaborate networks of nerves and blood vessels in the face.

Ash Mosahebi, a consultant plastic surgeon, described the situation in the UK for cosmetic procedures as "like a jungle". He tells BootsWebMD: "Anybody can set up a corner shop and start giving fillers and botox."

Mr Mosahebi, a member of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, says he has helped patients who have experienced lumpiness and deformity and which needed corrective surgery as a result of problems with fillers.

"What we say, from a surgeon's or a doctor's point of view, is that you should not do any procedure if you can't deal with its complication ... and if you aren't able to deal with the complications, they shouldn't be doing the procedure at all," Mr Mosahebi says.

Tightening the rules

The BAD is calling on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to reclassify all injectable intradermal fillers as drugs or medicines, or tighten standards for fillers before they can reach the market.

It wants the authorities to ensure that facial fillers can only be prescribed by medical practitioners , such as dermatologists and plastic surgeons and that patients are given counselling about the risks and benefits of any procedure before it can be carried out.