KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Thinking of visiting a “beauty clinic” in Malaysia to get an aesthetic treatment such as Botox injections or laser treatments. Perhaps you're considering cosmetic surgery such as liposuction or work done on your eyes, nose, or face?

Wait. Don’t say “yes” to those procedures, until you check if a qualified doctor or specialist will be doing it.

Here are three simple and basic steps you should do:

Step one: Check if the doctor has a current and valid practising certificate, which must be renewed every year for them to continue to practise in Malaysia.

Step two: Check if the doctor has a valid Letter of Credentialing and Privileging (LCP). Without an LCP, they cannot carry out any aesthetic procedure on you. 

Step three: Even if the doctor has an LCP, check if the LCP allows them to carry out the procedure on you. Also check if the “beauty clinic” is a licensed healthcare facility.

Why should you check? (Hint: To keep you safe)

Malaysia’s Health Ministry (MOH) in 2013 issued its guidelines on aesthetic medical practice for registered doctors, and in 2020 issued the second edition of the guidelines to regulate this.

In the guidelines, MOH noted that there have been reports of adverse outcomes (including patients becoming disfigured or dying) due to incompetent medical and non-medical practitioners carrying out these aesthetic procedures.

MOH noted that “all aesthetic procedures are not completely safe”.

MOH said some of the common complications from these beauty or cosmetic treatments include reactions to anaesthesia; bleeding; infections; scarring; pigmentary changes (hypo-pigmentation or hyper-pigmentation) and even death.

Not all doctors with LCP can do cosmetic surgery on you

There are three categories of doctors who can get the LCP qualification to do aesthetic treatments:

• General practitioners (they are non-specialists)
• Medical specialists (dermatologists and non-dermatologists)
• Surgical specialists (plastic surgeons and surgeons whose core specialties are not plastic surgery)

Doctors who are general practitioners cannot do invasive procedures on you.

Only plastic surgeons can do the full-range of invasive procedures and cosmetic surgeries on you, including for eyelids, noses, faces or tummy tucks; as well as breast implants, breast enhancements, breast reductions, and fat grafting.

The Health Ministry’s website lists these three as illegal procedures in Malaysia, namely breast fillers, buttock fillers, and “IV drip Vitamin C”.  

What is an LCP?

Registered doctors or specialists have to apply for the LCP, which will be issued by the Health Ministry’s Medical Practice Division if all requirements are met (including training or assessment requirements).

LCPs issued to general practitioners are valid for three years and can be renewed; while LCPs for specialists are valid for five years and also renewable.

A doctor or specialist with an LCP can then be registered in a national registry, known as the National Registry of Registered Medical Practitioners Practising Aesthetic Medical Practice.

If there are complaints on aesthetic medical procedures carried out by a registered doctor and the procedure’s outcome, this may lead to an inquiry by bodies such as the Health Ministry or the Malaysian Medical Council.

This could lead to the LCP being reviewed and the doctor being removed from the national registry.

Complaints of unsafe practice or professional misconduct could also lead to such LCP reviews and potential removal from the national registry.

Check here to see if a person is a doctor registered with the Malaysian Medical Council, by just typing their name.

Check here to see if the doctor is still on the National Registry of Registered Medical Practitioners Practising Aesthetic Medical Practice.

What are the doctors’ responsibilities?

In the MOH guidelines, doctors and specialists must inform the patient of the potential risks and possible outcome, and get consent for the planned aesthetic medical procedure.

They must also place the patient’s safety as their primary concern, and carry out the services in a healthcare facility licensed or registered under these laws and regulations:

• Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998
• Private Healthcare Facilities and Services (Private Hospitals and Other Private Healthcare Facilities, Private Medical Clinics or Private Dental Clinics) Regulations 2006.

Check here to see if the “beauty clinic” you visit is registered with the Health Ministry and if it can provide aesthetic services or not.