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Aggressive marketing attacked - 7 October 2009

CLINICS are using "aggressive marketing" to encourage patients to undergo major cosmetic procedures, a leading surgeon has warned.

Awf Quaba, a plastic surgeon in Edinburgh, told The Scotsman these businesses were now starting to proliferate in Scotland, leading people into having operations without proper information or counselling.

Research by private hospital group Spire Healthcare has shown that people are increasingly being tempted into cosmetic procedures by celebrities who have surgery.

The poll of more than 2,000 people across the UK found that two-thirds thought that celebrities were driving the acceptability of cosmetic surgery.

The research also found that a fifth did not think cosmetic surgery was risky.

Surgeons have warned that any procedure can carry a risk – but that can be reduced by making sure the doctor has the right qualifications.

Mr Quaba, a surgeon at the Spire Murrayfield Hospital, said "commercial clinics with aggressive marketing" could encourage people to have operations without considering the full consequences, and give them false hope about what the surgeon can achieve.

"They target certain niches and market aggressively to try to get these individuals." he said. "Until recently, we have been immune from these but the clinics are proliferating in Scotland.

"There are quite a number of clinics which are advertising aggressively to the public. I am aware of one clinic offering 50 per cent reductions on cosmetic treatments for individuals who are prepared to promote or model for them."

Mr Quaba said other clinics were offering free Botox or teeth-whitening to those having breast enlargements.

Guidance on cosmetic surgery on the Department of Health website strongly recommends that people find out about the qualifications and experience of surgeons, doctors, nurses and other practitioners who provide treatments.

A spokesman for the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said they had been increasingly concerned about the standard and style of cosmetic surgery advertising, which was designed to "incentivise" people to undergo procedures.

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