Dr. Rajetha Damisetty explains how the entry of unqualified practitioners and a lack of regulatory oversight is impacting patient safety when it comes to skin and hair procedures being performed in India.

The wellness sector is booming in India. Aesthetic, skin and hair clinics are everywhere, social media feeds are filled with advertisements and procedures such as hair transplants, skin lightening, botox and others are becoming increasingly common. In a few cases that have been reported in the news however, some of these treatments have gone horribly wrong – in May this year, two men from Kanpur died after botched hair transplants and another man in Kerala contracted a serious bacterial infection.

Experts say that the problem is the lack of regulatory oversight – who is supposed to be able to perform these procedures and who is actually performing them in India? Are clinics where these procedures take place fully licensed and equipped to deal with emergencies? Are misleading claims and exaggerated advertisements contributing to the problem? And what is being done to ensure patient safety?

Guest: Rajetha Damisetty, a senior dermatologist based in Hyderabad and national chairperson of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL) Anti-Quackery, Legal and Ethics Committee.

Host: Zubeda Hamid

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