The Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) has opened about 90 criminal cases for usurpation of aesthetic medicine functions by administering botox in clinics, beauty salons and hairdressers, it was announced today.
In a statement, ASAE explains that it carried out, through the National Unit of Information and Criminal Investigation (UNIIC), a surveillance operation due to the “growing offer of this type of procedures, without any medical qualification for the effect”.
“(…) As an operational balance, to date, approximately 90 criminal proceedings have been brought for the practice of usurpation of functions, which have resulted in the seizure of various medical devices, equipment and other utensils used in the commission of the criminal offense, as a precautionary measure to prevent the criminal offense from continuing,” he stresses.
The authority emphasizes that the administration of botulinum toxin (Botox) or hyaluronic acid, as well as the application of other procedures using invasive techniques, such as tensor threads for facial harmonization purposes, is exclusive to medical professionals, and is forbidden to people without this legal qualification.
“Being in question the practice of medical acts by unqualified persons, such situations can constitute a danger to the physical integrity of those who undergo these procedures, and, sometimes, these are the cause of permanent and irreversible physical damage, as reported in numerous complaints to ASAE,” he stresses.
Because it is “a very lucrative activity”, the authority will continue to “monitor the phenomenon of usurpation of functions, promoting the protection of public health and consumers,” adding that “it has conducted several actions in establishments where medical procedures are performed by people without any qualification to do so.
The ASAE has the collaboration of the Portuguese Medical Association, the Health Regulatory Authority, and INFARMED – National Authority of Medicines and Health Products.
