French aesthetic medicine doctors are calling on Health Minister Stéphanie Rist to act after two women died following injections carried out by unqualified practitioners, according to Le Parisien.
The union of independent doctors and the circle of best practices in aesthetic medicine sent an open letter to the minister, titled with a demand to know how many more deaths it would take before action was taken. Nearly 5,000 practitioners signed the call for urgent measures against what they described as clandestine practices.
The two deaths occurred in Lyon and Nice within four months. A 40-year-old woman died in Villeurbanne in March after injections to the buttocks, and a 25-year-old woman died on July 27 at a beauty centre in Nice.
Dr. Dominique Bellecour said hospitals were treating young women left disfigured by such procedures, and that so-called fake injectors were now killing patients. He added that the victims were mainly young people with limited financial means.
The practitioners are demanding a coordinated public health policy, the creation of a national observatory for aesthetic medicine, and restored access for trained general practitioners to administer botox, currently blocked by pharmacies.
