Reporter investigates chaos in the medical beauty industry
3 water light needles
Probably only 1 is genuine
● In 2020, 34% of China's medical and aesthetic users who inject injections have received hydro-injection injections.
However, the current rate of genuine injections on the market is only 33.3%, which means that one genuine injection may be accompanied by the circulation of at least 2 illegal injections.
● Among the legal medical and aesthetic institutions, there are still more than 2,000 institutions operating beyond the scope, and the number of illegally operating medical and aesthetic institutions exceeds 80,000.
Illegal institutions are small in scale, hidden in life beauty and residential areas, and are highly concealed, making it difficult to combat
● Injecting water-light needles in informal institutions and using water-light needles of unknown origin may have an impact on one's own health, or even cause injury or disability
□ The reporter's trainee reporter Zhang Shoukun
□ Our reporter Han Dandong
The desire for beauty is endless.
She is 164 centimeters tall and weighs 48 kilograms. She has fair skin, an oval face, double eyelids, and beauty tips, but Qiu Ying feels that she is still not beautiful enough.
In the past 3 years, the 23-year-old Hunan girl has made her facial skin more moisturized by frequent injections of water-light injections. “It’s effective once every few months. The money spent in the past few years should be Tens of thousands of dollars."
Lin Lei, an Anhui girl, is not so lucky.
She bought the water-light injection from the Internet, and after receiving the goods, she couldn't wait to inject it into her face.
A few days later, her face was covered with acne.
Shuiguang Injection focuses on moisturizing and whitening, and is a "star product" in the current medical beauty market.
At present, the water light needles on the market are mainly divided into "injection water light needles" and "needle-free water light needles".
The former is to inject moisturizing nutrients such as hyaluronic acid into the deep layer of the skin; the latter is to inject the moisturizing nutrient solution into the basal layer of the skin through a device similar to an air pump.
A recent investigation by a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" found that there are not a few beauty lovers who buy online ancillary supplies like Lin Lei, such as hydrating needles and syringes, who use online "tutorials."
In addition, some institutions that do not have medical aesthetics qualifications, such as hairdressing shops, spas, and health centers, are also providing injection services.
The interviewed experts reminded that injecting water-light needles in informal institutions and using water-light needles of unknown origin may have an impact on one's own health, or even cause injury or disability.
Anxiety of appearance brings the market
Shuiguang acupuncture is popular in the medical beauty circle
"I have always believed that natural aging is the most beautiful, and I reject the use of medical aesthetics for cosmetic surgery or delaying aging. But as I get older, my wrinkles become more and my skin becomes dull. In addition, some friends around me have injected water and light needles. , I did get a more obvious effect, and I was moved by it."
On July 3, the reporter met Li Nan in a coffee shop in Xicheng District, Beijing.
She was about to turn 30. When she talked about age, she held the coffee cup in both hands and rubbed it twice at a loss: "They all said'Thirty years old', but in my opinion, 30 years old is a hurdle. I feel deeply. When I am not young anymore, especially when I browse the internet for videos and pictures, I am especially envious when I see other young, beautiful and well-built girls."
In order to get through this "hurdle", Li Nan plans to find some time to try the Shuiguangzhen project in the near future, "as much as possible to retain his youth."
There are not many women who have the same ideas as Li Nan.
In recent years, with the rise of the "value economy", for many people, the consumption of medical beauty has changed from optional to rigid demand. This has also given a broad market for many products. The main moisturizing and whitening beauty product-water light injection This gradually became popular.
According to Dr. Liu from a plastic surgery hospital in Tianjin, water-light acupuncture has basic hydrating and anti-aging effects. The price ranges from several hundred yuan to several thousand yuan. A course of treatment generally requires 3 to 4 injections.
However, water-light injection is not a procedure that you can start to inject at will if you pay for it.
Chen Zhiquan, director of Beijing Yongcheng Charm Plastic Surgery Department and member of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association's Beauty and Plastic Surgery Branch, told reporters that taking water injection is not as simple as stated on the Internet. First of all, it should be judged whether the skin is suitable, and secondly, the water used should be judged. Whether the needle is genuine.
"Since it is an invasive treatment, there will be rejection reactions, and the distribution of nerves and blood vessels in the human face is very complicated. When consumers use non-genuine water light needles or self-inject water light needles, it is easy to cause skin ulcers and even lead to Tragedies such as blood vessel embolism and blindness." Chen Zhiquan said.
According to the "White Paper on China's Medical Beauty Industry Insights in 2020" (hereinafter referred to as the "White Paper") released by iResearch, 34% of China's medical and beauty users who inject injections in 2020 have received hydro-light injections, and 58.8 % Of male medical beauty users have been vaccinated with water light injection.
However, the current rate of genuine injections on the market is only 33.3%, that is, one genuine injection is usually accompanied by the circulation of at least 2 illegal injections.
According to Chen Zhiquan, the main ingredient of Shuiguang Needle is hyaluronic acid, which is managed in accordance with three types of medical devices in my country. The production and operation of such products must obtain relevant qualifications.
The "Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices" stipulate that imported medical devices shall have Chinese instructions and Chinese labels; those without Chinese instructions, Chinese labels, or instructions or labels that do not comply with the provisions of this article shall not be imported.
However, on the online shopping platform, the reporter found that some water-light needles that do not meet the relevant regulations can still be easily purchased.
False propaganda of illegal business
Chaos in the medical beauty market
"A woman's best investment is to be beautiful."
"Shuiguang acupuncture that can make the skin full of water, and a shuiguang acupuncture that can make the ex-boyfriend look back!"
"Water light needle, lock your beauty!"
Cheng Cheng from Suzhou City, Anhui Province is the owner of a beauty studio. She often posts articles to promote medical beauty products in Moments. Shuiguang Needle is the main product she promotes.
The reporter sent a WeChat message to Cheng Cheng to inquire about the injection of water light injection. Cheng Cheng enthusiastically introduced that the price of water light injection in her studio is one-third cheaper than going to the hospital.
When the reporter asked again whether the source of goods was reliable, Cheng Cheng said: "The purchase channel is a trade secret, it is not convenient to disclose, but it is guaranteed to be okay; the doctors in the studio are all I invited from the hospital, and there has never been a doctor who came to me to do medical beauty There have been problems." But when a reporter asked whether his studio had a medical institution practice license, Cheng Cheng avoided talking about it.
Article 14 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Practicing Physicians stipulates that after registration, doctors can practise in medical, preventive, and health care institutions in accordance with the registered practice location, practice category, and practice scope, and engage in corresponding medical, preventive, and health care services. .
Without the registration of a physician and obtain a practising certificate, no one shall engage in the practice of physicians.
It can be seen that practicing doctors should practise within their scope of practice and the place of practice registration, and it is illegal for doctors to take private work; and medical aesthetics institutions must have corresponding practicing licenses.
"Similarly, injecting water-light acupuncture requires a doctor's qualification certificate." Chen Zhiquan said.
In fact, the chaos of Shuiguang Needle is just the tip of the iceberg of the chaos in the medical beauty market.
Li Cenyan, director of the legal department of the China Association of Non-Public Medical Institutions and deputy director of the Aesthetic Medicine Education and Management Branch of the China Plastic Surgery Association, told reporters that what is behind the chaos of water and light needles is the chaos of the entire medical aesthetics industry, which mainly includes institutions. Qualified or out-of-scope operations, unqualified or out-of-scope doctors, uneven quality of medicines and devices, and false promotion of products.
The "White Paper" shows that in 2019, there are about 13,000 institutions with legal medical beauty qualifications in my country, of which 29.1% are hospitals, 32.9% are outpatient departments, and 38% are clinics. Among the legal beauty institutions, there are still There are more than 2,000 institutions that operate beyond the scope of operation. The number of illegally operated medical and aesthetic institutions has exceeded 80,000. The illegal institutions are small in scale and hidden in life beauty and residential areas. They are highly concealed and more difficult to combat.
According to statistics from the China Consumers Association, from 2015 to 2019, my country's medical aesthetics industry-related complaints increased significantly. In 2019, there were 6,138 complaints in the medical aesthetics industry, which was nearly 13 times the number of complaints in 2015.
In order to change the beauty of the medical beauty project, if you encounter any of the problems in the irregular practice of medicine or the chaos of medical beauty, the impact on the beauty seeker may be irreversible.
In October 2020, a 21-year-old girl underwent 3 surgeries at the Muyan Medical Plastic Surgery Institute in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. They were lip shaping (M lip), prosthetic breast augmentation and rhinoplasty.
At about 22:00 on October 3, during the last rhinoplasty, the girl's blood pressure and heart rate began to drop. After the beauty agency took corresponding first aid measures, she was sent to Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital for emergency treatment, but the rescue was ineffective. death.
In Chen Zhiquan's view, many medical beauty advertisements are oriented, but they simply emphasize that as long as they do a certain project, they will become beautiful, without mentioning the risks involved.
The overwhelming propaganda aggravated people's appearance anxiety.
"Stovepipe calf muscle blocking surgery cuts off the leg nerves, and hyaluronic acid is applied to the ears to become'elf ears'... These alternative cosmetic procedures are irreversible to the body, and will not make people truly beautiful. Regular medical and aesthetic institutions will not carry out these projects."
Increase supervision and punishment
Create a good compliance environment
Why is there frequent chaos in the medical beauty market?
Li Cenyan analyzed that this is the result of multiple factors intertwined.
In recent years, the medical aesthetics industry has developed rapidly, faster than the country’s compliance approval for medical aesthetics products, making some medical aesthetics products "black households" under my country’s regulatory system; the industry has low thresholds, and various medical aesthetic institutions and medical aesthetics Practitioners have uneven service levels; those who seek beauty do not know well about medical beauty.
"Many items in medical aesthetics are actually medical behaviors. Injecting water and light needles is actually a medical behavior, not just a simple beauty and skin care. If the beauty seeker can receive medical beauty with the mentality of going to the hospital for consultation Service, perhaps the chaos in the industry will not be so serious."
According to Li Zhuo, director of Beijing Zhiyin Medical Cosmetology Clinic, many illegal practitioners are engaged in guerrilla warfare or have secret sales networks.
Even if caught, the punishment is very light, and the cost of breaking the law is very low.
This makes many lawbreakers more confident and makes supervision more difficult.
In response to the increasingly fierce medical beauty chaos in the market, many departments have recently issued relevant regulations to strengthen special rectification of medical beauty.
On June 22, eight ministries and commissions including the National Health Commission, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Public Security, the General Administration of Customs, and the General Administration of Market Supervision jointly issued the "Special Rectification Work Plan for Combating Illegal Medical Beauty Services", which is scheduled from June to December 2021. Launched a nationwide special rectification work on combating illegal medical beauty services, focusing on cracking down on illegal medical beauty-related activities, strictly regulating medical beauty services, cracking down on illegal production and sales of drugs and medical devices, and severely investigating and punishing illegal advertisements. Internet information.
Li Zhuo said that these measures reflect the further tightening of the supervision of the medical beauty industry by relevant departments, show the country's determination to crack down on illegal medical beauty, and are conducive to the healthy development of the industry.
Chen Zhiquan put forward his own suggestion: In terms of propaganda, it is necessary to strengthen correct guidance.
Shuiguang needles can be used, but the possible hazards should also be explained.
In addition, for the existing practitioners in the market, regular professional ethics training should be conducted; for those who have not yet entered the market, the market access threshold should be raised.
At the same time, it is necessary to establish an interlocking drug management system, and the source and destination of the products must also be registered. This can effectively prevent hospital products from entering the market and also facilitate supervision.
Li Cenyan believes that in order to eliminate the chaos in the medical beauty industry, medical beauty institutions and medical beauty practitioners must implement the main responsibility of self-management, put medical quality and medical safety in the first place, and standardize medical beauty services in accordance with relevant system standards; Medical beauty industry organizations at all levels should strengthen the self-discipline guidance and risk warning of medical beauty institutions, supervise and remind member units to operate and regulate operations in accordance with the law, and not to conduct medical beauty business illegally; regulatory agencies of all localities and departments should strengthen social supervision and explore the establishment of medical beauty institutions. Reward the complaint and reporting system, broaden the channels for complaints and reporting, and improve the social supervision mechanism.
(Qiu Ying, Lin Lei, Li Nan, Cheng Cheng are all pseudonyms in the text)