Last updated 11:59, Saturday, 05 July 2008

GOVERNMENT plans to deregulate cosmetic laser treatment, popular in beauty salons and clinics, have met fierce opposition from lawyers and surgeons who deal with those burned and scarred when treatment goes wrong.

The Department of Health proposal will remove safeguards currently in place for people undergoing treatment for hair removal or removal of fine veins, and place responsibility on the customer to investigate the practitioner’s skills, training and qualifications.

Barrow solicitor Joanne Copeland, representing the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, said the move will almost certainly mean more people will be injured by unqualified and incompetent operators.

“Laser treatment can be a dangerous procedure and if it is carried out by someone unqualified and inexperienced, the results can be devastating,” she said.

“We see first hand the kind of injuries caused when the treatment goes wrong – not only can the actual process be excruciatingly painful if it’s not administered correctly, it can cause terrible burns and scarring.

“At the moment people can go to clinics or salons registered with the Healthcare Commission but if the government deregulates, then there is no way for people to distinguish previously regulated companies from rogue operators.”

APIL’s call to keep the current regulations in place is echoed by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. David Gault, a consultant plastic surgeon and member of the organisation, says over the past year he has seen an increase in the number of people who have been injured as a result of laser treatment.

“If any change in regulation is to be made, it should be to control use of lasers more stringently,” he said.

Inappropriate treatment, either with the wrong laser or the right laser on the wrong setting, can result in burns and permanent, disfiguring changes in the skin. Mrs Copeland said there are around 3,000 unlicensed, unregulated providers of laser treatment in the UK.

“Deregulating the industry would automatically make all of these legitimate, regardless of whether they are qualified to carry out the procedure,” she said.

“It is absolutely unconscionable that the government recognises more than 3,000 additional people could be injured as a result of deregulation, yet it still wants to go ahead.”