Within the UK, botulinum toxin undergoes strict regulatory protocols to be prescribed and administered to patients. Despite this, ‘black market’ toxin and medicines being bought online and transported from overseas is a common and dangerous act, leaving patients with complications and practitioners with no accountability, according to key aesthetic associations.
Last month, an investigation by The Times found practitioners with no professional medical qualifications used social media to target women and girls for injectable treatments, suggesting the treatments were safe and would enhance their looks.1 Many had been using prescription-only products which had not undergone the safety checks and approvals from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), a legal requirement in the UK.
At one beauty clinic in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, it was reported that a man presented himself as a doctor but was not registered with the General Medical Council. He allegedly tried to convince a…
