The National Court temporarily suspended the order by which the Ministry of Health wanted to avoid any intrusion into cosmetic surgery, by requiring that only doctors specializing in Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery or others with surgical skills in their training can carry out these interventions, according to the EFE Agency.
The Spanish Association of Cosmetic Surgery and an individual had taken to court the ministerial decree by which Mónica García’s department intended to put an end to the lack of control in the cosmetic surgery sector. The order was approved by the ministry last September and is now suspended by the National Court.
Justice does not go into the merits of the measure, but opts for suspension due to what it considers to be a formal defect, according to EFE. With this order, Health intended to modify the Royal Decree of 2003 in which the regulation of these cosmetic surgery centers is established due to the “continuous increase” that we have experienced in recent years in these interventions. Thus, it was noted that “the care unit in which a doctor holding a specialty in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery or another surgical or medico-surgical specialty in the field and skills indicated in the official program of his specialty, is responsible for carrying out “surgical treatments, aimed at improving the aesthetics of the body, face or hair”.
However, the magistrates allude, without going into substance, to a conflict of form since the order aims to “prevent or hinder the professional exercise” of graduates in medicine and surgery who “are not specialists”, this which was not evaluated in the Royal Decree intended to be modified.
The Ministry of Health has shown its surprise at the decision of the National Court, as it assures that the definition of cosmetic surgery in its decree responds to different social and health demands that require regulatory changes to obtain greater control in this care activity. that it is carried out by professionals with the appropriate skills and qualifications.
Thus, as sources from this department at the EFE point out, this activity is reserved for surgical or medico-surgical specialties who have the competence to practice cosmetic surgery in accordance with the content of their respective training programs, thus giving the necessary guarantees to citizens. who attend these centers.
