Restory Plastic Surgery had advertised the appointment-only Sydney event featuring Dr. I Yung Moon and Dr. Myung Joon Lee, neither of whom is registered to practise in Australia. National laws prohibit doctors who are not registered in Australia from providing medical consultations or services in the country.
After being contacted by the ABC, the company pulled its advertising. "Dr. I Yung Moon and Dr. Myung Joon Lee will not be travelling to Australia and will not be attending the Sydney event," it told the ABC. "We acknowledge that the presentation of the promotional material may have created the impression that the doctors themselves would be travelling to Sydney, and we would like to clarify that this is not the case."
The ABC understands similar medical expo events are held regularly, prompting warnings from the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons about the risks of overseas procedures and the rules governing medical advertising.
Sunshine Coast marketing specialist Pia Marshall, 41, met a Korean cosmetic surgery company at a similar expo in Melbourne last year. She said meeting patients at such events appeared to be common practice, but after doing her own research she decided to undergo her procedure with a different surgeon.
In June she travelled to Incheon, South Korea, with her mother Marion, 69, for matching deep-plane face lifts, neck lifts and lower mid-facelifts. The procedures, performed under general anaesthetic, typically take several hours and involve repositioning the skin and underlying tissues to restore facial contours.
The Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons confirmed wound infection and haematoma, when blood collects under the skin, are the most common face lift complications requiring operative intervention. The mother and daughter said South Korea's reputation for skincare, known as K-beauty, and the growing number of social media testimonials made it an obvious choice.