Mum of Bolton woman who almost died after liquid BBL backs calls for regulation
Janet Taylor's daughter, Louise Moller, got injections in Essex. Four days later she had sepsis and had to have a life-saving operation
The mum of a Bolton woman who almost died after a liquid Brazilian butt-lift is backing calls for the Government to take urgent action and regulate the industry.
Janet Taylor's daughter, Louise Moller, got injections in Essex. Four days later she had sepsis and had to have a life-saving operation.
On Monday, her practitioner, Ricky Sawyer, was handed a ban - preventing him from carrying out any cosmetic procedure throughout England and Wales or instructing anyone else to do so.
Today, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute are calling on the Government to take urgent action over unregulated and unlicensed practitioners and treatments.
The Institute said: "Brazilian butt lifts, Botox and fillers are being offered by untrained people in places such as public toilets.
It said it had uncovered:
- "Shocking" locations where procedures such as fillers are being administered, including "pop-up" shops on high streets, cubicles in public toilets and hotel rooms. It said these locations fall outside typical business premises and make taking action difficult.
- "Unsafe and unregulated" fillers available for sale online to shoppers for as little as £20.
- Growing concerns over fat-dissolving injections, such as Lemon Bottle, which have "little to no regulatory oversight to ensure their safe use by the public".
- A "postcode lottery" across the UK in the minimum age at which such procedures can be carried out - with young people crossing borders for treatment.
Janet recalled the moment she thought her daughter was going to die: "She actually rang me and the first I heard about it was when she rang me to say goodbye.
"The pain was immediate when she had the injections.
"She couldn't walk, she had to travel back from Essex to Manchester on her own, she became quite ill very, very quickly, and then she actually collapsed.
"The infection was so bad the surgeon couldn't tell her what he was going to cut off, whether it would be flesh, muscle or a leg... and we wasn't sure she was going to survive anyway."
Janet said the Government need to act now: "I'd go as far to say the Government are doing absolutely nothing about it.
"These girls are being injected, and we don't even know what they are injecting into them.
"It's not just about Louise, its about the pain that we've been through as a family, and I don't want that to go into anybody else's life or family."
Janet said there needs to be a grading for cosmetic procedures: "So if somebody's having their nails done, that's one level, then their eyebrows is a level.
"It could be training and qualifications. For me this should only be done by a medical professional."
Janet said these types of practitioners are luring in people online: "She saw celebrities advertising it, advocating it, it had their backing.
"Saying it was painless, it was done by trained professionals, and it roped her in..."
"Then as you go along, there needs to be a legislation.