Cambodian Health Experts Flag Shady Surgery Practices

Alarm within the Cambodian medical community is growing due to an increasing number of practitioners performing plastic surgery on patients despite the lack of proper training or a license.

Industry experts revealed that a significant number of individuals adopt a dangerously perfunctory attitude towards surgical practice, bringing patients under their knife despite their inadequate amount of knowledge on the intricacies of plastic surgery operations.

“Some people have gone to learn (surgery) in neighboring countries for just several months. They come back and boast that they are skilled,” explained Sann Sary who heads the Ministry of Health’s department of hospitals.

Sary added that this negligent attitude reaches such lengths to the point of illegally operating surgery clinics advertising their services via television.

Although Cambodian law requires plastic surgeons to register and receive proper qualification from the nation’s health ministry, Sary admits that when it comes to unlicensed and inexperienced individuals doing plastic surgery operations, in general the law has a disconcertingly lenient hold. This has in turn led to the increasing number of plastic surgery clinics offering services even without the proper licenses or professional experience.

“Look out on the streets and you’ll see scores of clinics mushrooming but without real qualification and skills,” noted Chhim Vattey, director of the Samangkar Luxe Salon in Phnom Pehn. “That’s why I still have many patients who are victims of cosmetic surgery.”

Consequences of being under sub-par care have been more than apparent for those unfortunate enough to receive botched surgery results, including damaged tissues, red, swollen faces, and misaligned noses and breasts.

“Some patients have had free silicone injected into their noses, faces, breasts and hands,” revealed Reid Sheftall, a Phnom Penh-based American plastic surgeon who has repaired a number of damages caused by bungled surgery.

“This is very dangerous because the silicone can migrate to the other parts of the body and will form hard rubbery masses of scar tissue wherever it resides.”

The warnings and the trends, however, have not fazed patients willing to go under the knife – any knife – just to repair physical features they deem problematic. Experts point out a steadily-growing number of total plastic surgery operations being done in Cambodia. According to them, the industry has as a whole grown doubled, even tripled over the past few years.

“We have advised (people” that to open cosmetic clinics legally, they must have an expert with qualification and years of experience,” explained Sary. “That’s because plastic surgery is a dangerous thing to do.”

The Cambodian government has also issued a public warning against purchasing the services of uncertified plastic surgery practitioners.

Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the public a few months back about putting one’s trust and money on clinics without the proper license to operate on plastic surgery patients.

“The problem is whether or not (we) understand clearly the materials or chemical substances that are used for beauty surgery,” said Hun Sen, speaking of an incident in which a local woman died under the hands of an unqualified plastic surgeon.

He then spoke directly to Cambodian women, asking that they appreciate and maintain untouched physical beauty.

“I would like to appeal to all women – not only single women, but also married women – that it is good to keep natural beauty.”

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