Surgeon: Beware of the Botox ‘cowboys’
MICHAEL JACKSON’S former doctor and Ireland’s leading cosmetic surgeon claims he has witnessed a ‘massive rise in complications’ in facial procedures due to ‘cowboy’ practitioners entering the lucrative field of aesthetic medicine.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday, Dr Patrick Treacy – who treated the famous singer in 2006 when he lived in Ireland – has called for regulation of the market and believes it should be confined to ‘doctors and nurses’.
Instead, he said, dentists, paramedics and pharmacists are now entering this arena – sometimes to the detriment of patients.
‘There is no regulation on the market at all and nobody keeping any control on who enters the marketplace,’ said Dr Treacy, chairman of the Irish Association of Cosmetic Doctors. ‘It’s a disgrace what’s happening. We’re seeing a massive rise in complications and I am dealing with them every week.’
According to Dr Treacy, the number of complications arising from Botox and dermal fillers in particular is a horrendous problem. ‘It’s very unfair to the rest of the people who are acting ethically whereas these cowboys are just doing what they want. They do a weekend course and they are let loose on patients.’
Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Organisation, said the practice of dentists administering Botox and fillers to patients is ‘quite a relatively recent phenomenon’ here, but they are entitled to do so and are bound by a code of practice and guidance under the Dental Council of Ireland.