Brazilian butt lifts should be banned in the UK, MPs have said, as a report found a lack of regulation had led to a “wild west” of cosmetic procedures being carried out in garden sheds, hotel rooms and public toilets.
The women and equalities committee (WEC) said high risk procedures such as non-surgical buttock augmentation should be outlawed immediately, and a licensing system for lower risk treatments was urgently needed. People with no training can carry out potentially harmful procedures, putting the public at risk, the group of MPs added.
A nine-month inquiry by the committee also found ministers were not moving quickly enough to tackle the risks posed to Britons and recommended they “accelerate regulatory action”. The lack of timely action was “fostering complacency in self-regulation” within the industry, they cautioned.
“High-harm procedures such as the liquid Brazilian butt lift (BBL), which has resulted in fatalities, should be banned immediately without further consultation,” the report said. “A licensing system for lower-risk procedures, in which only those suitably qualified can perform them, should be introduced within this parliament.”
During the inquiry, one woman, Sasha Dean, told how she was admitted to intensive care with sepsis and kept in hospital for five weeks after a BBL went wrong. The committee also heard how Alice Webb, 33, a mother-of-five from Gloucestershire, died after a liquid BBL in September 2024.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it would consider the report and “respond fully in due course”. A spokesperson said: “This government is taking action to crack down on cosmetic cowboys and root out dangerous treatments. Our tough new measures will ensure only qualified healthcare professionals will be able to perform the highest-risk procedures.”
