The National Court (AN) accepted the precautionary suspension of the order of Ministry of Health which limited cosmetic surgery operations to professionals with specialized training. By order, the Litigation-Administrative Chamber grants the request of the Spanish Association of Cosmetic Surgery and an individualwho had requested the suspension of the order as a precautionary measure. A new hard blow for Mónica García, who did not respect several reasons put forward by the plaintiffs, including associations of professionals and unions who believe that “the order is neither proportional nor justified”.
Concretely, it specifies that “the care unit in which a doctor specialized in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery or in another specialty sits” surgical or medico-surgical in the field and skills indicated in the official program of your specialty, is responsible for carrying out surgical treatments, for the purpose of aesthetic improvement of the body, face or hair.
The magistrates explain that the health decree approved last September modifies the annex to Royal Decree 1277/2003, which establishes the general bases for authorization of health centers, services and establishments.
In this sense, they indicate that the aim of this decree is to prevent or hinder professional exercise in unit U-47 for graduates in medicine and surgery who are not specialists, which was not not provided for in the royal decree, since it did not contain any provision on professional skills.
This legal measure aroused controversy both in the medical sector and in society in general, since the order aimed regulate a practice which has been the subject of criticism for the lack of qualification of certain professionals who work in the field of aesthetics without adequate training.
In this context, it should be noted that aesthetic medicine in Spain is a growing specialty and its high demand attracts professionals with diverse training, many of whom are not specialist doctors. Given this situationan attempt was made to implement a regulation guarantee that medical-aesthetic treatments are carried out only by accredited specialists.
The intention of this order was to establish clear criteria and requirements for those who wanted to work in this field, as well as to protect patients from possible risks arising from practices without appropriate qualifications.
The one known as sarah law It came into force in September 2022, after the case of the young woman from Alcantarilla who died after liposuction in Cartagena.
And, certainly, in recent years there are a greater number of doctors without specific training who carry out operations on patients for whom they do not have all the knowledge, taking on unregulated courses and training. But once again, the terrible management of the minister, Monica Garcia, leads to the suspension of a new standard.
Grounds for preventive suspension
The National Court decided to temporarily suspend the order of the Ministry of Health pending a more detailed trial, and this protective decision responds to several reasons put forward by the plaintiffs, among whom are associations of professionals and unions who believe that the order is neither proportionate nor justified. Thus, the plaintiffs argue that the Department of Health may not have sufficient jurisdiction to regulate cosmetic medicine in such a specific manner. They consider that this regulation should come from organizations specializing in medical training or professional associations, and not exclusively from the ministry.
