Eloise Power on new guidance for cosmetic procedures

Eloise Power comments:

“The General Medical Council have this week made a welcome announcement that new guidance on cosmetic procedures will be brought into force from June 2016. This follows the recommendations in the Keogh review and a number of high-profile cases such as the PIP breast implant litigation. The guidance sets out a framework for protecting patients who are considering or undergoing cosmetic procedures.

The provisions on consent will be of great interest to the medico-legal community in the light of last year’s landmark Supreme Court judgment in Montgomery – which is yet to be considered by the higher courts in the context of cosmetic surgery claims. Under the new GMC guidance, the doctor who performs the cosmetic procedure will be responsible for consenting the patient and must not delegate this responsibility. It remains to be seen whether the civil courts will recognise this as an aspect of the duty to obtain properly informed consent.”

Eloise acted for the Thompsons subgroup of claimants in the PIP litigation, has published for Jordans on the Cosmetics Regulation and has experience of clinical negligence cosmetic surgery claims. Please click here for further details of her work.