© 2022 Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia Limited for further information visit www.thomsonreuters.com.au or send an email to care.anz@tr.com Please note that this article is being provided for research purposes and is not to be repro- duced in any way. If you refer to the article, please ensure you acknowledge both the publication and publisher appropriately. The citation for the journal is available in the footline of each page. For information concerning permission to republish material from this journal, either in part or in its entirety, in any medium, please refer to http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/ journals/permissions. For general permission queries, contact LTA.permissions@thomsonreuters.com 406 (2022) 29 JLM 406 The Perils of Cosmetic Surgery Tourism: Evolving Knowledge, Awareness, and Challenges Dale Jobson and Ian Freckelton AO QC* Concern has been expressed for some years about the risks of complications and the need for revision procedures after cosmetic surgery tourism. Such tourism is large and growing. Recent literature and coroners’ inquests have provided a new evidence base for evaluating the extent of the dangers posed by a variety of overseas cosmetic surgery procedures. This article reviews such literature and identifes reason for considerable concern about cosmetic surgery tourism as well as about the defcits in regulatory and legal liability that might otherwise inhibit substandard practice. Provision of carefully drafted information about risk issues which patients can factor into their decision-making before embarking on overseas trips for the purpose of cosmetic surgery is a constructive initiative deserving of further attention by relevant Colleges, professional association and health advocacy groups. Keywords: cosmetic surgery tourism; medical tourism; regulation; litigation; coroners’ inquests; risks I. INTRODUCTION Controversies aplenty are canvassed in respect of the contemporary conduct of cosmetic surgery, including in relation to the suffciency of practitioners’ skills and competence; the role of advertising in proselytising resort to surgical options; the adequacy of consent procedures; and the role of cooling- off periods. 1 Such concerns prompted the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Medical Board of Australia in November 2021 to constitute an inquiry into cosmetic surgery. 2 However, such diffculties are especially pronounced and pose particular challenges in respect of cosmetic surgery which consumers search out and obtain abroad. * Dale Jobson: School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, Monash University. Ian Freckelton AO QC: Barrister, Castan Chambers, Melbourne, Australia; Judge, Supreme Court of the Republic of Nauru; Professor, Law Faculty, and Professorial Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne; Adjunct Professor of Forensic Medicine, Monash University; Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Acknowledgement: The authors acknowledge the helpful reviews of our manuscript. Confict of interest declaration: The authors declare no conficts of interest. ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5918-3484 and ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7509-6375 Correspondence to: dalewjobson@gmail.com. 1  See JA Scutt, Beauty, Women’s Bodies and the Law: Performances in Plastic (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020); H Klein et al, “Complications After Cosmetic Surgery Tourism” (2017) 37(4) Aesthetic Surgery Journal 474 <https://doi.org/10.1111/ ans.17648>. 2  AHPRA and National Boards, Ahpra and Medical Board Announce Review of Cosmetic Surgery Checks and Balances (30 November 2021) <https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2021-11-24-cosmetic-review.aspx?TSPD_101_R0=08c403b005ab2000 aede561d53c8e99cfad4a97ddcff957738a15930a351385f1e98f8c0635edff90852ba17bb143000783315a9a2290e67 db5003fc711c239d0de1c9495763601c754c2fb3257fd8bed5ea9ed62a8cddc232129b78823c2415>; see D Jobson and I Freckelton, “Cosmetic Surgery Regulation: A Review of Controversies and Potential Reforms” (2022) Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery <https://doi.org/10.1111/ans.17648>.