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At Renew Time Restoration™, we emphasise
the importance of good communication with our
clients. In the spirit of this, I would like you
to know the facts about a rumor that is
circulating in the Umhlanga community. There is
also a possibility that I may be appearing on
Carte Blanche in a story which has a very
negative slant and bias.
The facts are as follows:
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A client was treated by our senior Intense Pulse
Light (IPL) operator (trained in Paris in 2005)
on 1 November 2006. The treatment was the 3rd
IPL that the client received - her previous IPLs
were all successful. Due to the fact that I was
not in the practice on the day in question, Dr J
D Verwey was the supervising doctor.
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The client developed a complication post
treatment (a hypo-pigmented scar on her chest).
After returning from an Aesthetics Congress in
Paris in January 2007, I was asked to examine
the client and to offer an opinion on the
hypo-pigmented scar.
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My opinion was that the complication occurred
either as a result of post treatment sun
exposure or from friction caused by her gym
clothes, or a combination of both.
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As you are aware, we always give our IPL clients
written instructions and strongly advise them
that they must not go out into the sun. It is my
opinion that if the problem had been caused by
the IPL treatment, the scar would have been in
the shape of the footprint of the IPL - which it
wasn't - and it would not have occurred in just
one spot on her chest, but rather over her whole
chest. In fact we used a very conservative
setting on her skin type.
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In addition to offering my own medical opinion,
I sent photographs of the scarred area to 2
world renowned IPL authorities for a second
opinion, both of whom confirmed my diagnosis.
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As a gesture of goodwill, the client was offered
free IPL treatment surrounding the affected area
to improve the colour differentiation.
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Thereafter she consulted a local dermatologist
and plastic surgeon, and also sent a legal
letter of demand for R80 000 to the practice in
2007, which Dr Verwey (as the doctor on duty)
passed on to his insurers.
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The insurers refused to award the client
compensation and invited her to take the matter
further in a court of law.
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Nothing further was heard from the client for 18
months. It has emerged that a group of local
dermatologists approached Carte Blanche recently
with a story of "botched" aesthetic procedures
done by non-medical and general practitioners.
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Included in the information handed to the Carte
Blanche producers in Durban, were the
aforementioned client's names and contact
details.
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The local Carte Blanche producers then contacted
this client who agreed to be interviewed. The
premise of the programme appears to be that
people can have a negative outcome following an
aesthetic procedure if they don't go to a skin
specialist.
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Currently there is no legislation that governs
who can or cannot perform these treatments. I
have been involved in aesthetic work for 14
years and have attended numerous local and
international courses and I am one of the
founding members of AAMSSA (Aesthetic and
Anti-Aging Medicine Society of South Africa),
which is affiliated to the International Body
Union Internationale de Medicine Esthetique.
However, the group of dermatologists made a
sweeping statement that I am not qualified and
that only dermatologists should do aesthetic
procedures. Please be aware that the study of
Lasers, Lights, Botox® and Fillers is not in the
curriculum of any medical dermatologist and they
would have to attend additional courses just
like I have done.
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In the interests of transparency, I agreed to
allow Carte Blanche to interview me about the
client's post-treatment complications. The local
producers were unprofessional and aggressive in
their attitude and stance prior to the interview
and, once the interview started, it quickly
became apparent that they were not interested in
the facts of the case but only in the
sensationalism of the client's version of the
story. They were ill-informed and were not
interested in any explanation that I gave them.
They were hostile and continually attempted to
get me to admit some sort of liability for the
outcome of the client's treatment.
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The academic expert that they have used in the
programme to speak about IPL has never, to my
knowledge, done an IPL, nor has he received any
training on an IPL machine, nor does he own an
IPL machine. This hardly qualifies him as an
expert on IPL treatment.
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I have seen a portion of the preliminary script
of the programme and, in my opinion, it is very
one-sided journalism, and is extremely unfair
towards me in my professional capacity.
As all my clients know, I pride myself on the
continual training which I receive both locally
and abroad and I refer, where necessary, to both
dermatologists and plastic surgeons. I am also
an accredited trainer for Botox® by the
manufacturers of the product, which demonstrates
the respect that they have for my capabilities.
There have been more than 1500 laser and light
based treatments performed in our facility over
the past 4 years with an exceptionally high
success rate.
Although this has been an extremely stressful
time for me, my wife and our staff, I stand firm
in my belief that we offer our clients
treatments in a safe and ethical manner at all
times, by using the best available equipment and
keeping ourselves abreast with every new
development in our industry. This includes
sending our staff to various congresses, as well
as spending time with the equipment
manufacturers abroad to ensure that we make the
best selection when purchasing. We use the
finest quality equipment and spare no expense in
offering our clients the best that science has
to offer at Renew Time Restoration™.
It heartens us that several clients, who have
heard rumours of this unfounded and unpleasant
attack, have come forward to show their loyalty
and support.
Please feel free to call me or my wife, Buddy
Niemann, or our Client Liaison Manager, Colleen
Miller, if you would like to discuss this matter
or the safety of the equipment we use or if you
need any further information. Please feel free
to visit Renew Time Restoration™ to examine the
extensive file of facts that we have assembled
on this matter over the past 5 weeks!
Thank you for taking the time to read this and
for your past support, it is truly appreciated.
Kind regards,
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