Ban children from getting Botox and cosmetic fillers, MP urges

Children need to be protected from “unscrupulous” cosmetic surgeons through a ban on under-18s receiving Botox or cosmetic fillers, an MP has said.

Conservative Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) wants to bring the procedures in line with other body modification techniques like tattooing by banning them for under-18s.

We can no longer allow the unscrupulous actions of some to impact on our children’s lives, and those administering the procedures must be held accountable

During a debate on her Botulinum Toxin and Cosmetic Fillers (Children) Bill, she told the Commons: “We can no longer allow the unscrupulous actions of some to impact on our children’s lives, and those administering the procedures must be held accountable.”

She added: “The most frequent reaction I have received in response to my Bill, is ‘Surely that is illegal already?’

“I join in this disbelief and this House must now put it right.”

Her Private Member’s Bill seeks to ban the cosmetic procedures for under-18s in England unless they are approved by a doctor.

Ms Trott raised the case of one young girl who “nearly lost her lips” after a botched procedure and another who needed “critical care” after her enhancement went wrong.

She told MPs: “It is the NHS which has to pick up the bill for these problems, but it is not the NHS who will always pay for cosmetic surgery to fix it.

“So young people can be left with lifelong scars as a result of this surgery.”

She added: “I could expand at length about the historic lack of oversight for women’s health issues.

“From PIP breast implants to vaginal mesh, we have simply not seen enough focus on these important issues by government over decades.”

Young people today know images taken of them every day will live online for the whole of their lives

Tory colleague Jane Stevenson (Wolverhampton North East) warned that social media is affecting young people’s confidence.

She added: “My awful 1980s hairstyles in an attempt to look like Bananarama or the latest pop group, or my appalling dress sense of my early teens, thankfully are a very dim and distant memory now, a very distant memory.

“But young people today know images taken of them every day will live online for the whole of their lives.”

Tory MP James Cartlidge (South Suffolk) welcomed the Bill and said he understood why some people were attracted towards cosmetic procedures, given his experience of being able to wear contact lenses instead of glasses.

He added: “It actually gave me a huge boost to my self-confidence and self-esteem, so I do understand and empathise with the way in which people would want to invest in procedures or enhancements that give them greater self-confidence.”

Claire Coutinho, Conservative MP for East Surrey, offering her backing to the Bill, said the lack of social media pressure helped her as a child.

“As a child, I think, even in the kindest possible terms, I would be described as unfortunate… my bottle-glass glasses, which I had by the age of five, were surrounded by some very fetching plastic rainbow frames. I accompanied this with a pudding-bowl haircut and a dress sense which was interesting, to say the least.

“But, as a child, I did not have to contend with social media and that’s something I seriously worry about for young people of this age.”

Dr Luke Evans, Conservative MP for Bosworth, spoke of problems experienced by patients he had seen.

He warned: “I have actually seen patients who have come in, with lip fillers particularly, when they’ve gone wrong.

“The lesser side is the bruising and swelling – usually that will go after the first two weeks – however, there can be clumping so you get uneven lumps and bumps within the lips.

“Worse still, I have seen necrosis – that is dying of the tissue, where you actually start to see the lip filler coming out.

“That is absolutely devastating for the person suffering it, and worse still there’s no accountability to find out how to get that corrected.”