Seven Auckland beauty clinics have been caught offering to remove cancer-like skin lesions in a consumer sting -- one of them even offering to 'electrocute' it off.
Consumer New Zealand sent mystery shoppers to 46 clinics across the country, and seven in Auckland failed to advise a woman with a cancer-like lesion to see their doctor.
"Some of them offered to use a laser treatment on the spot," says Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin. "One of them said they would 'electrocute' off the spot."
Members of the Association of Registered Beauty Therapists are prohibited from removing unidentifiable lesions and skin tags without permission from a medical practitioner.
"You should really not go there -- you should go to a GP," says Ms Chetwin. "And if you are [going to a beauty clinic], you should if they are members of their industry organisation."
She says given our high skin cancer rate, beauty therapists should leave the diagnosis to the doctors.
The clinics that wrongly offered to laser off suspicious skin lesions were Ametrine Rose Health & Beauty, The Eye & Face Institute, Parisian Clinic and Beauty Forever. Amax Laser Hair Removal offered to cut it out, Laser Clinics NZ offered a "skin-needling treatment", while Q Medispa in Onehunga said they could "electrocute" it off.
Ametrine Rose and The Eye & Face Institute said they'd retrain their staff. Parisian Clinic told Consumer the "whole industry" needed better training. Beauty Forever declined to comment, and the rest didn't respond.
Newshub.
