Why botched brazilian butt lifts and other unregulated cosmetic treatments cost us all

Lip fillers, Botox treatments and cut-price surgery abroad are leading to NHS doctors treating injuries including serious infection and tissue damage at a cost of £20,000 a patient.

Procedures once seen as specialist treatments have become routinely and widely available across the UK, with people of all ages seeking ‘tweakments’ from providers operating under little or no regulatory oversight.

While the risks of flying abroad for cut-price bariatric surgery are well documented closer to home there is a concerning lack of protection for consumers seeking “non-surgical” procedures such as Botox injections or dermal fillers.

Doctors pick up the pieces

Dr Kate Arrow, a medical adviser at MDDUS, said complications leading from High Street cosmetic treatments are more common than many people may think.

She said: “Unfortunately these numbers don’t shock me.

“I used to run a pre-operative assessment surgery and had a patient every couple of weeks presenting with complications from unregulated or overseas cosmetic procedures.

“I think it’s underreported how many people need secondary intervention from the NHS.”

A 2024 MDDUS survey found almost one third (30%) of doctors had treated patients suffering injuries after cosmetic procedures at the hands of unregulated practitioners.

Out of those who had treated patients with complications, the majority (78%) said the number of patients seeking medical help has been increasing year on year.

When asked the age of the youngest patient they’d treated, 19% had seen patients between 16 and 20 years old.

Unregulated cosmetic practitioners

Doctors, dentists and nurses must be registered with their health professional regulator and have indemnity to protect patients in the case of any complications, but there are currently few restrictions on who can perform cosmetic procedures.

Healthcare professionals must follow safe practice or risk regulatory investigations and, in the worst-case scenario, be struck off and unable to practice medicine or dentistry.

But anyone can perform an invasive procedure such as placing fillers in someone’s face after completing a weekend course - courses which campaigners say are often offered by trainers who also lack any form of healthcare qualifications.

Save Face, a UK register of accredited cosmetic practitioners, believes that existing legislation needs to be better enforced.

Its director Ashton Collins said: “There is a lack of accountability which means too many patients with concerns about treatments they have are being palmed off. So potentially serious adverse reactions are being dismissed as 'just bruising' when actually they can get progressively worse.

"Many practitioners don't carry out proper consultations and give little to no consideration of seeking informed consent before picking up a scalpel or needle and using it on someone's face"

The need for change

The same MDDUS survey found that many doctors struggle to treat patients with injuries caused by unregulated cosmetic treatments for reasons including:

• Patients being unable to explain the procedure they had undergone (18%)
• Patients presenting with injuries their doctor had not encountered before (17%)
• Infection caused by poor hygiene practices (15%)
• Unknown ingredients used in procedures (14%)

When patients can’t explain what’s been done to them or what’s been injected, or the people responsible can’t be contacted, doctors face an uphill battle to providing treatment.

Response from policymakers

Policymakers are beginning to take notice.

In August 2025, the UK Government published its response to a consultation on the licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The government committed to:

• Introduce legal restrictions which will ensure that cosmetic procedures which are deemed to pose the highest level of risk to the public can only be performed by specified regulated healthcare professionals.
• Develop and implement local authority licensing for lower risk procedures.
• Introduce age restrictions for those undergoing non-surgical cosmetic procedures

The Scottish Government cited MDDUS research in the context for its Non-Surgical Procedures and Functions of Medical Reviewers (Scotland) Bill, which was passed in March 2026. The bill will:

• Make it an offence to provide a procedure to someone under the age of 18.
• Ensure procedures could only be provided within ‘permitted premises’ such as hospitals, clinics and registered pharmacies.
• Allow Scottish Ministers to set minimum qualification standards for cosmetic practitioners.

Download the survey data (PDF)

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