Cosmetic surgery tourism study calls for tighter regulation

A University of Leeds led study has highlighted the risks of cosmetic surgery tourism.

The study, “Exploring the Cosmetic Surgery Tourism Industry” charts the experiences of British, Chinese and Australian patients travelling abroad for cosmetic surgery and suggested that transnational, not national, regulation should be put in place to safeguard patients if surgery goes wrong. The report found that many clinics had no medical malpractice insurance cover and called for surgeons and clinics to be accredited and inspected. It also said that the quality assurance of medical devices needed to be tightened. Agencies were largely unregulated and rarely consisted of more than a single-person business, with agents often being former patients.

Patients were shown to have a lack of knowledge about the places they were travelling to and poor foreign language skills. A total of 17% experienced complications, with 9% receiving further treatment on returning home.