Woman's thigh swelled after taking fat-reducing injection: Department of Health: Not approved

Many women want to lose weight but are too lazy to exercise. According to print media reports, a 36-year-old Ms. Lin felt that her legs were thick and her waist was fat, so she went to a medical beauty clinic and spent 780,000 yuan on fat-reducing injection treatments. Not only did she fail to lose weight, but her thighs became swollen. The Department of Health pointed out that fat-reducing injections have not been approved in the country. If a doctor claims that nutritional supplements are fat-reducing injections for medical purposes, he may violate the "Medical Practitioners Act" and the worst case scenario is the revocation of his medical license.

Doctors point out that if you want to lose weight locally, you still need to control your diet and exercise actively. (Photography by Huang Zhiwen)

Print media reports pointed out that Ms. Lin, an office worker who is 162 cm tall and weighs 73 kg, went to a medical beauty clinic in Taipei City in July this year because she felt that her lower body was too fat and her face was too big. She bought fat-reducing injections, pulsed light treatments, etc. for a total of NT$880,000. In total, she paid NT$780,000 and received 17 injections. Afterwards, due to the swelling and discomfort in my thighs, I went to another clinic for treatment, only to be told that the fat-reducing injections were not approved in the country. I felt like I was cheated.

The Department of Health stated that "fat-reducing injections" have never been approved in the country. Zhou Daojun, a simple inspector of the Medical Affairs Department, said that doctors are not allowed to engage in improper professional practices, and are not allowed to exaggerate the beauty effects. If a doctor claims that nutritional supplements are fat-burning injections and performs treatments outside of indications without informing the patient, he may violate the Medical Practitioners Law, which states that doctors are not allowed to engage in improper professional conduct and may be punished by suspension of business for more than one month but less than one year, or in the worst case, revocation of his doctor's license.

A few days ago, a netizen also shared her experience of getting fat-reducing injections on her blog. She wrote: "The injection process is really unbearable! The clinic didn't even give me surface anesthesia, the doctor just poked me with the syringe. I had a high fever of 39 degrees at night after the injection, but I still feel that the local slimming effect is not significant."

Xiao Dunren, an obesity medicine and hepatobiliary gastroenterologist, said that there are hundreds of ways to lose weight, but if you don't combine it with diet control, balanced nutrition intake, and exercise to burn calories, the chance of gaining weight again is as high as 90%. The best way is to eat less and exercise more, lose weight, and there will be local slimming effects on the face, waist, legs and other parts.

On July 26, 2012, the Department of Health also sent letters to local health bureaus asking them to strengthen management in response to issues such as the huge disparity in medical beauty charges, exaggerated and false medical advertisements, and insufficient disclosure of professional qualifications. If people have medical disputes, they can also file a complaint with the local health bureau.