Taipei: Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced plans to amend regulations, requiring two years of post-graduation training for all medical staff at aesthetic medicine clinics. This initiative follows reports of accidental deaths during procedures.
According to Focus Taiwan, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang revealed the amendment during a public event in Taipei. The changes aim to regulate the administration and use of designated medical procedures, tests, and devices, as part of efforts to restore order in the aesthetic medicine and cosmetic surgery sector. A notable recent incident involved a 50-year-old man who died following penile enlargement surgery at a Taipei clinic.
The proposed regulations specify that post-graduation training will serve as the threshold for performing lower-risk procedures, such as injections and laser or energy-based therapies. Surgical aesthetic procedures will require physicians to hold specialist qualifications and certification in general surgery. Doctors who fail to meet these new standards will be prohibited from offering related treatments without passing a qualification review certified by the Joint Commission of Taiwan (JCT), a healthcare accreditation body.
Currently, Taiwan lacks strict regulations on the qualifications of physicians performing aesthetic procedures, except for the highest-risk surgeries. Additional proposed changes involve suspending doctors or clinics that violate the rules and making their records public. Furthermore, health insurance will no longer cover medical costs for patients injured due to physician error, as stated by Shih.
On Monday, Wang Shiou-han, a standing board member of Taiwan’s Chinese Society of Cosmetic Surgery and Anti-aging Medicine, expressed support for the Health Ministry’s proposed amendments. Wang noted that these changes would enhance public protection. Highlighting Botox injections, he pointed out that South Korea includes ingredient precautions in patient education manuals. Wang called for aesthetic medicine to transition from a “results-oriented” to a “knowledge-oriented” approach, urging the establishment of industry standards for ingredient information, risk warnings, and common side effects.
Shih indicated that, if all progresses smoothly, the amendment could be implemented by the end of the year.