Maltese Woman’s Botched Lip Fillers Lead Aesthetic Physicians To Warn Against Unlicensed Practices
After a woman in Malta allegedly had her lips filled with a cheap online product, aesthetic physicians warn against unlicensed lip injections and urge people to ask, educate themselves, and make sure they know who is injecting.
The woman, who prefers to stay anonymous, had her lips enhanced with dermal filler by who she believed to be a qualified doctor. However, after dealing with stiff, lumpy lips for over a year, she found out her lips were filled with a cheap online product.
She had the treatment done several times before with a different doctor and had never experienced any problems or side effects.
After this treatment, however, she instantly experienced severe bruising, swelling and discomfort – which got worse over the course of the week.
“Admittedly, I did not ask the new doctor which brand of filler was being used, like the fact that he was a qualified doctor gave me comfort and assurance that high-quality products would be used.”
The swelling eventually subsided, but the rigidity of her lips did not. “Whereas with previous fillers, my lips felt very natural and even, this time both my upper and lower lip remained very stiff and lumpy.”
After a year of experiencing these side effects, she had to return to her original doctor to have the filler dissolved.
“It was at this point that I was prompted to ask the doctor who had carried out the procedure for the name of the filler used, in order for the correct product to be used to dissolve it.”
“I called the clinic and was advised that the product used was called ‘Irenice’. As I had never heard of this product, I asked the receptionist if they could provide a link to the manufacturer’s website and proof that the product was FDA approved and approved for use in the EU.”
The receptionist could not provide her with this information and told her she could simply ‘Google it’ if she wanted more information.
Upon googling the product, she found out that it could be bought for an extremely low price on an online wholesale supplier based in China selling cheap, often low-quality products.
“I was unable to find a company website, however, I did message them through Facebook, where I asked them for proof of FDA or other approval and I was sent two ‘certificates of conformity’. Neither the web address nor the email address listed on the certificate work. The date of issuance is also after the date which I had my filler done.”
When inquiring about this, the doctor had allegedly told her: “Why are you surprised? You can buy anything from online these days.”
“Therefore, I urge those considering dermal fillers or any cosmetic treatment, to query the products used and carry out your own independent research before having the treatment done.”
“Many doctors clearly disclose the name of the products on their price lists and where this is not done, please, please, please, do not forget to ask and do your own research.”
“It has now been over a year since I had this treatment done and after two dissolving treatments, the product has still not fully dissolved and I am afraid I will have hard lumps forever.”
It appears that this case doesn’t exist in isolation.
Joanna Delia, Vice-President of the Aesthetic Physicians Association Malta (APAM), said: “Only licensed medical doctors can inject, and obviously anything injected must be approved by the EU medicines authority and licensed by the local authority.”
“A simple Facebook search shows persons advertising injections and lip augmentations who are not doctors, and some who have no medical background.”
Saying that this woman is the only person who had enough courage to speak up about it, she says she has seen ‘dozens of these issues’, and so have her peers. “The problem is growing.”
“Unfortunately, regulation in Malta is mostly reactive – only when there is a serious issue, health complication or a court case do authorities intervene.”
Dr Jason Debono, the president of APAM, said on behalf of all members: “APAM was set up with the aim of setting high standards for Aesthetic Physicians, as well as to increase patient’s awareness and safety.”
He urges all patients who seek aesthetic medical treatments, such as lip augmentation with medical devices like fillers, to enquire about and make sure that:
- The person doing the treatment is a doctor registered with the Malta medical council;
- That the doctor is experienced within the field of Aesthetic Medicine;
- The device/filler used is licensed in Malta and carries the CE mark and or has FDA approval.
This way, people can prevent themselves from cheap, dangerous and illegal practices like the woman in this article had to endure.
What do you make of this case? Do you think authorities should be stricter when it comes to these practices?
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