CosBeauty Magazine #80

Black market
cosmetic drugs
seized in
back-alley
clinics
Raids on Australian
cosmetic clinics
have uncovered
thousands of
illegal cosmetic
drugs. words by
Aimée Rodrigues
Illegal and potentially deadly
substances, including dermal
fillers, topical anaesthetics,
human placenta extracts and medicalstrength
peels made in China and
Japan, have been uncovered in raids
on cosmetic clinics across Sydney.
The ABC has obtained footage
of several recent raids conducted
by the NSW Health Department
showing officials seizing hundreds
of contraband drugs and treatments
from illegal operations, so-called
‘back alley clinics’.
‘It’s actually been horrifying. It’s
far worse than what I could imagine
as Health Minister,’ NSW Health
Minister Brad Hazzard told the ABC.
Authorities are intercepting
increasingly large shipments of the
black-market items, according to
Bruce Battye, who is NSW Health’s
deputy chief pharmacist. ‘These are
not coming in in someone’s handbag.
These are coming in in bulk,’ Mr
Battye said.
Health authorities are warning
Australians that they are risking
their lives by getting cheap and
illegal cosmetic procedures from
back-alley clinics, which could result
in disfigurement, burns, paralysis,
blindness and even death.
‘These procedures are potentially
dangerous,’ Mr Hazzard said. ‘You
could die, you could be disfigured, you
could spend many, many thousands
of dollars getting yourself back to the
state you would like to be in.’
‘Cosmetic procedures are medical
procedures, and fillers and toxins can
cause a number of complications in
the wrong hands. Unfortunately we
have a marketplace that downgrades
the importance of proper training,
and if you judge a product or
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