At least two people died in Belgium after receiving cosmetic injections

At least two people have died after undergoing cosmetic surgery, Het Nieuwsblad reports, citing the Royal Belgian Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (RBSPS). The deaths are the result of injections given by someone who was not trained to do so.
In recent years, dubious clinics have been springing up all over Belgium. They offer Botox or filler injections but do not have the expertise to do so safely, says plastic surgeon Steven Colpaert of the RBSPS.
For example, these clinics employ nurses or beauticians who are not legally allowed to give injections. Some foreign doctors also travel to Belgium to give injections. They are not registered in the country, so they can disappear if problems arise.
Some Belgian doctors move into the aesthetic industry when they retire or want to make a quick extra income. Although this is not illegal, these doctors are not trained in aesthetic procedures, so there are still risks involved.
Fatal consequences
These risks can be serious. "If you get an injection wrong, you can lose part of your lip or nose, or go blind," says Colpaert. Patients can even die "if someone injects filler into a vein in the face that is connected to a vein in the brain", he explains. "That creates a blood clot that causes a thrombosis."
The fact that two people have already died as a result of this was previously unknown, Het Nieuwsblad writes. "Two years ago it happened in Brussels. And five years ago someone died in Antwerp," Colpaert confirms. "Maybe there are more incidents."
© AFP PHOTO PASCAL GEORGE