Allegations have emerged involving a London-based beauty parlour said to have performed liposuction that’s left several women ‘injured and disfigured’.
One woman is reported to have been hospitalised after the instrument used during the procedure ‘hit’ one of her internal organs, according to a BBC investigation.
Campaigners have warned these shocking allegations expose an alarming loophole in UK law that they’ve long highlighted, which enables beauticians to perform surgery without medical qualifications.
In fact, according to UK law, it is not illegal for any non-medic to attempt an operation — so long as the person doing it does not claim to be a surgeon, and the client consents.
Regulatory bodies such as the General Medical Council and the Care Quality Commission cannot prosecute or ‘strike off’ aestheticians or beauticians.
Ashton Collins from Save Face, a charity that helps victims of cosmetic surgery injury, told MailOnline beauticians could ‘technically’ be charged with assault for injuring a client.
‘But it’s a struggle to get the police to take cases seriously,’ she said. ‘Most police forces adopt the attitude of; you consented to the procedure, it’s your own fault.’
Daria Barbara Wisniewska is one of the owners of Luxury Medical Aesthetics and Academy.
Clips from the establishment’s Instagram profile page show the beauticians injecting what appears to be filler into a patient’s face.
Sarah Guy, a beautician from South Wales told the BBC she paid £1,500 to the clinic, called Luxury Medical Aesthetics and Academy, for a ‘one day fat reduction masterclass’
Allegations made against the London establishment came to light after one client was so ‘shocked’ about what she saw during an appointment, she contacted the BBC.
Sarah Guy, a beautician from South Wales told the broadcaster she paid £1,500 to the clinic, called Luxury Medical Aesthetics and Academy, for a ‘one day fat reduction masterclass’.
She was enticed by advertisments seen on Instagram that offered training in a new type of fat-dissolving procedure called Lipolysis.
Lipolysis is also known as ‘fat-sculpting’, and is a minimally invasive procedure that involves breaking down fat cells using lasers, injections or a cold probe that ‘freezes’ the tissue.
But videos taken by Ms Guy of the training session — and shared with the BBC — do not show appear to show a typical lipolysis procedure.
The BBC reports that in the videos, one of the owners, Daria Wisniewska [pictured above] is seen injecting a solution into a woman’s chin who has agreed to be a model for the procedure.
The woman said to be Ms Wisniewska then makes a small hole in the area using a scalpel, before inserting a long cannula attached to a suction machine. She then begins to suck out fat.
Ms Guy said the same method was used on another model’s chin, and a third woman’s stomach.
Ms Collins from Save Face, who has been supporting those who say they were injured by Luxury Medical Aesthetics, said the women were told they were having non-surgical fat dissolving treatment not liposuction.
She said: ‘It’s only when they’ve been numbed and they see the actual device coming out and they feel it prodded in their skin, do they realise what’s actually going on.’
Sarah Guy passed the training course and was given a certificate from Luxury Medical Aesthetics, despite refusing to perform procedures on the models, according to the BBC.
The salon owners Daria and Monika Wisniewska reportedly did not respond to the BBC’s messages about the complaints.