Crackdown on illicit Botox courses widens

Authorities act to protect health amid booming cosmetic injection market

China's health authorities have vowed to crack down on malpractice in the medical aesthetics industry and step up supervision of botulinum toxin — an anti-wrinkle injection better known as Botox — following media reports that exposed illicit crash courses claiming to teach cosmetic procedures in just days.

Medical experts warn that receiving cosmetic procedures at non-medical institutions carries risks of side effects, infections and even life-threatening hazards, and they discourage teenagers from seeking to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Reports about questionable training courses that enroll people with no medical background emerged about a week ago. These programs claim students can master non-surgical cosmetic procedures such as injectables and thread lifts, and even some surgical treatments, within a period of three to four days.