CUT-PRICE “too good to be true” cosmetic ops in Turkey are dangerous and need regulating, the Health Secretary has said.
Wes Streeting urged people to research the risks and think twice before flying abroad to get work done.
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He wants to work with governments of other countries to improve safety.
Turkey is top destination for popular surgeries including boob jobs, tummy tucks, butt and facelifts, as it is cheaper. Seven in ten foreign cosmetic ops on Brit patients are done there.
But horror stories are common and several UK women have died in recent years from complications.
There are particular concerns about the safety of Brazilian butt lifts — known as the most dangerous procedure but growing in popularity.
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Research from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons found half of those who go abroad for cosmetic ops come to regret it.
Mr Streeting said: “We need to take very seriously medical negligence and malpractice overseas. If the offer looks too good to be true, I suspect it’s too good to be true.
“Think very carefully before flying overseas and paying a rock-bottom price, because you may end up paying the consequences for years. The injuries can be life-changing.”
Foreign cosmetic clinics send salespeople to Britain to tempt customers with bargain prices. But medical regulation in other countries is often less strict than in the UK.
BAAPS president Nora Nugent, said: “Patients need to understand the risks.” The Royal College of Surgeons last night announced it has invited health ministers from the UK, Turkey and Lithuania to a crisis meeting with the NHS and advertising authorities next month.
RCS vice-president Prof Vivien Lees said: “Lives are being lost to cut-price surgery abroad. Patients deserve better protection through tighter regulation and education.”
It also reportedly costs the NHS an average of £9,328 per patient to fix horror ops.
NHS England’s Sir Stephen Powis, said: “It’s not fair the NHS is left to pick up the pieces of botched procedures.”
