Australia’s cosmetic injectables industry has reacted with fury to tough new restrictions on how they describe their services, including a ban on terms like ‘fillers’ and ‘anti-wrinkle’.
Without warning, the Therapeutic Goods Administration wrote to cosmetic injections and beauty industry bodies on January 15, advising of an immediate overhaul of rules surrounding advertising.
Practitioners say that general terms are now banned in promotional materials, particularly online and on social media, making it virtually impossible to describe treatments on offer.
“The promotion of a health service as a means to obtain a prescription medicine is a form of advertising prescription medicines,” Kate Kaylock, TGA Assistant Director of Advertising, Compliance Education and Policy, wrote in the letter.
“Decisions about treatments that involve the use of prescription medicines should be made by a doctor in consultation with each individual patient. It is not legal to influence consumers about the use or supply of prescription medicines through advertising.”
Even very broad references in advertising material, such as “wrinkle reducing injection”, could fall foul of the new restrictions, she added.
Laurisa Dannoun, director of Injxu Cosmetics in Sydney, said the significant changes “came out of nowhere” and there is still little detail about what businesses like hers can and can’t do.
“They’ve blindsided us with this – none of it makes sense,” Ms Dannoun, a registered nurse, said.
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