Injunction sought to shutter laser clinic
Injunction sought ‘in the interest of public safety’
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario wants a retired marriage therapist to stop practising medicine.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is seeking an injunction to prevent Eve Stewart from practising medicine at her Ottawa laser clinic.
The college applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday to order Stewart to “refrain from performing controlled acts.”
Those acts include: performing surgery, administering injections, “putting an instrument, hand or finger beyond the labia major and beyond the point in the nasal passages where they normally narrow” and diagnosing or identifying diseases.
The college said it was taking action against a nonmember “in the interest of public safety.”
Stewart, who describes herself as a retired marriage therapist, has no medical training and says there are no physicians on site at her laser clinic. She told the Citizen she had performed a rhinoplasty — or nose job — on a client as a favour and that she found the procedure “very easy.” She also performs a form of facelift that involves administering local anesthetic in patients’ faces and securing clips or stitches to tighten the skin. She told the Citizen she also performs “vaginal beautification” operations that involve a few stitches.
Her claims have horrified many medical professionals.
The popularity of cosmetic surgery and the blurring lines between beauty treatments and medical cosmetic treatment have opened the door to untrained workers doing what should be done by health professionals. There have been cases in Canada in which unlicensed practitioners have administered Botox. In some cases — including in Ottawa — Botox is administered by estheticians under the supervision of doctors, which might leave clients confused about whether it is a medical procedure or a beauty treatment and less likely to be wary of non-doctors offering the service.
Still, it is virtually unheard of for a clinic such as Stewart’s — which she operates out of her Nepean home — to perform invasive cosmetic surgeries with no medical supervision or training.
When interviewed by the Citizen this week, Stewart was unapologetic and even defiant, challenging the college to “Show me the law that says I have to stop and I will stop.”
Physicians say the types of procedures being performed at Eve’s Laser Clinic are technically difficult — even for trained surgeons — and potentially life-threatening.
Dr. David Ellis, a facial surgeon from Toronto and University of Toronto professor, wrote to the college earlier this week urging it to quickly take action.
Dr. James Bonaparte, a cosmetic surgeon in Ottawa, and other physicians said risks include infection and life-threatening reactions to drugs being administered at her clinic.
Lidocaine, used for local freezing, has a narrow margin between safe doses and overdoses, and can cause cardiac arrest, said Bonaparte.
Medical clinics have resuscitation equipment, drugs to counter dangerous side-effects and training to deal with serious reactions, he said. Complications happen in medicine, he said.
“It is not a matter of if, but when.”
Rhinoplasty, which Stewart performed on a client, is a difficult procedure only properly trained surgeons will take on, said Bonaparte, who noted that surgeons who specialize in head and neck surgery receive six years of training after medical school.
Stewart also offers carbon dioxide, an ablative laser treatment, something Bonaparte said can cause an outbreak of herpes in people who are prone if they do not re- ceive anti-viral medicine before treatment.
Bonaparte said he was especially concerned about how Stewart prepared the surgical site to make sure it was sterile, how she was ensuring patients didn’t get exposed to blood-borne illness and how patients could properly give consent to the procedures if she didn’t have medical training.
Stewart had worked with Ottawa Public Health inspectors who visited her clinic several times before giving it a thumbs-up for meeting “best practices.”
Botox, a Health Canada spokesman said, should be given by a physician ‘with the appropriate qualifications and treatment.’
Ottawa health has now relaunched an investigation into the clinics.
Former clients who contacted the Citizen this week complained they were unhappy with their Botox and filler treatments. One described an overflowing garbage can in the clinic when she went in for skin treatment.
Health Canada confirmed Friday that it had inspected the clinic after receiving a public complaint and passed its findings on to the college. Botox, a Health Canada spokesman said, should be given by a physician “with the appropriate qualifications and treatment.”