HCMC residents cautioned against unregulated weight loss clinics | SGGP English Edition

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HCMC residents cautioned against unregulated weight loss clinics

SGGP 10/12/2024 10:02

Medical experts warn residents about the dangers of unregulated weight loss procedures, highlighting the risks of health complications and financial loss.

A skincare facility advertising “medically standardized weight loss” was discovered and penalized by the HCMC Department of Health (Photo: HCMC Department of Health)

Following childbirth, N.Y. experienced uncontrolled weight gain, perpetually struggling with self-consciousness regarding her physique. Through a Facebook advertisement, she was connected by an account named "Kim Dong Wook" offering consultation, pledging a weight reduction service allegedly performed by a Korean physician.

The proposed service promised fat reduction at VND1.5 million ($59), guaranteeing immediate results through a single intervention utilizing “the world's most sophisticated million-dollar fat destruction technological apparatus”. The consulting personnel asserted the facility’s hospital affiliation, encouraging complete customer confidence.

On October 4, adhering to the scheduled appointment at V.H. International Clinic located on Hoang Du Khuong Street of District 10, N.Y. encountered an unexpected scenario, notably absent was Dr. Kim Dong Wook. An alternative practitioner examined her, diagnosing visceral and multi-layered adipose accumulation, recommending a premium service necessitating a substantially 10 times higher investment.

After some unsuccessful treatment rounds, suspicious of the clinic's operations, N.Y. consulted the HCMC Health Department's information portal, discovering no registered medical establishment under the claimed name. Upon geographical verification, the system revealed only a dermatological clinic at the specified address.

Recent investigations by the HCMC Health Department have consecutively identified numerous weight reduction and obesity treatment facilities operating beyond prescribed medical regulations. Notable examples include Americare Clinic and BB Beauty Co., originally licensed for dermatological services but surreptitiously offering fat reduction and obesity treatment interventions.

These facilities candidly acknowledged employing laser and radiofrequency (RF) technologies during weight reduction procedures. Critically, current ministerial medical guidelines have not validated laser or RF muscle-lifting technologies for obesity treatment. Professionally categorized, “diode laser adipose tissue destruction” and “radio frequency adipose tissue destruction” techniques are exclusively permissible at primary and secondary healthcare levels, meaning in specialized, first, and second-tier hospitals.

Consequently, the municipal Health Department strongly cautions citizens to meticulously evaluate non-invasive weight reduction services proliferating across social media platforms.

The aesthetic and weight reduction market perennially intensifies toward year-end. Eager to prepare for festive celebrations, numerous clients inadvertently succumb to seductive promises of “instantaneous perfect waistline transformation following mere hours of intervention”.

A 30-year-old woman from Hanoi underwent liposuction at a private clinic, resulting in severe complications requiring extensive surgical intervention. The National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology in Hanoi treated a patient with serious infections due to botched liposuction, while HCMC Hospital of Dermato Venereology saw numerous cases of severe abdominal abscesses from unauthorized fat-dissolving injections. These incidents highlight the dangers of unregulated cosmetic procedures.

Obesity treatment at a reputable hospital

Medical experts unanimously emphasize that no “miraculous” weight reduction method exists. Nguyen Phuong Anh, MMed, Deputy Head of the Nutrition Department at An Binh Hospital, underscores that obesity treatment encompasses comprehensive weight management and complication mitigation, transcending mere aesthetic considerations.

Lifestyle modification remains the fundamental therapeutic approach, with pharmaceutical and surgical interventions reserved exclusively for extreme obesity or significant health complications, mandating explicit medical prescription.

“At present, no ultra-effective weight reduction methodology exists—whether through gel application or machine-based interventions—as fat represents a fundamental bodily structure. Unsafe weight reduction harbors substantial health risks,” warned MD Phuong Anh.

Concerned about the surge in demand for rapid beauty treatments, Assoc Prof Dr Quang Hung, MD (former Head of the Plastic Surgery Department at Cho Ray Hospital) emphasized that liposuction is not a weight loss treatment as many advertisements claim. Patients face life-threatening complications if they undergo liposuction at unlicensed facilities or performed by unqualified doctors.

He stressed that at the end of the year, when the demand for beauty treatments is high, there is an increased risk of unsafe beauty procedures at unlicensed or unauthorized facilities. The public needs to be extremely cautious.

By Giao Linh – Translated by Thanh Tam