Women report injuries and disfigurement following liposuction procedures

The BBC has received videos depicting a beautician conducting liposuction, a surgical procedure, within a beauty salon. This follows complaints from multiple women alleging they sustained injuries and disfigurement from the treatment. Luxury Medical Aesthetics and Academy, situated in Clapham, south-west London, has been offering “fat reduction masterclass” one-day training courses for beauticians. Current UK law permits non-medical professionals to perform surgery, provided they do not present themselves as surgeons and obtain client consent. The BBC’s File on 4 attempted to contact Daria and Monika Wisniewska, the salon owners, regarding these complaints; however, they did not reply and subsequently blocked the messages. Sarah Guy, a 34-year-old beautician from South Wales, enrolled in a “one day fat reduction masterclass” at Luxury Medical Aesthetics and Academy, paying £1,500. Her decision was influenced by the company’s “before and after” photos displayed on Instagram. Ms Guy was informed she would receive training in a novel form of Lipolysis, which typically involves injections of chemicals to break down fat cells, with the fat then naturally processed and eliminated by the lymphatic system and liver. Upon her arrival at the salon, Ms Guy reported observing “blood splatter up the walls” and “gauze swabs lying around that had still got blood on from the previous person”. She was permitted to record videos during the training session. Subsequently, feeling concerned by her observations, she provided these recordings to the BBC. The videos show Daria Wisniewska, one of the owners, injecting a solution into the chin of a woman who consented to be a procedure model. Ms Wisniewska then proceeds to create a small incision with a scalpel before inserting a long cannula, connected to a suction machine on the floor, to extract fat. Ms Guy witnessed this identical technique applied to another model’s chin and a third woman’s abdomen. Dalvi Humzah, a consultant plastic surgeon and member of the Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners (JCCP), stated that fundamental hygiene protocols were not being adhered to in the salon, thereby elevating the risk of infection and endangering lives. He commented, “It’s a catalogue of disasters all waiting to happen here.” After observing the initial model undergoing the liposuction procedure, Mr. Humzah remarked that the client faced a significant risk of infection, possibly septicaemia, and could potentially experience severe complications following the treatment. Ashton Collins, representing Save Face, a voluntary register for accredited aesthetic practitioners, has provided assistance to several women who reported complications and injuries subsequent to fat reduction treatments at Luxury Medical Aesthetics. Ms Collins informed the BBC that these women were uniformly advised they would receive non-surgical fat dissolving treatment, not liposuction. She stated, “It’s only when they’ve been numbed and they see the actual device coming out and they feel it prodded in their skin, do they realise what’s actually going on?” Save Face also reported that one woman required hospitalization after an internal organ was “hit.” Sarah Guy completed the training course and received a certificate from Luxury Medical Aesthetics, despite her refusal to perform the procedure on one of the models. Ms Guy subsequently lodged a complaint with the company, asserting that the procedure being taught was unsafe. She reported that her messages were disregarded and that she was blocked from communicating with the company on Instagram. Luxury Medical Aesthetics has declined to respond to inquiries from the BBC. Additional reporting was provided by Matt Pintus.