Unlawful cosmetic injections land nurse two-year ban

A Queensland nurse has been banned from nursing for two years. This followed the nurse “unlawfully and inappropriately” injecting a formulation of botulinum toxin into a patient without consulting a doctor or having a script.

Thia Sullivan, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) investigations revealed, also created false records about the services she provided and discouraged patients from co-operating with a police investigation. The penalty was imposed by the Queensland Administrative and Civil Tribunal after Sullivan continued to work with cosmetic injectables despite being suspended, Ahpra said.

Investigations by Ahpra on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia identified that Sullivan also created false records in relation to the cosmetic treatments and provided false and/or misleading information and documents to Ahpra investigators on three separate occasions in September 2019 and March 2020.

The matter was referred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and proceeded to hearing in September last year — the tribunal finding all six allegations against Sullivan proven and finding her guilty of professional misconduct.

“This is a case where general and specific deterrence are both important ... because of her decision previously to not accept her suspension and act accordingly, and secondly, there is a public interest in sending a clear message to practitioners and members of the public, that such disregard is unacceptable and will have consequences,” the tribunal said in now published findings.

“The Tribunal has been provided with cases that support the proposition that any conduct done to evade investigation by regulators amounts to professional misconduct.”

Sullivan was reprimanded, had her registration cancelled and is banned from reapplying for registration as a nurse until 29 September 2027. Until she is re-registered, Sullivan is also prohibited from providing any health service, including cosmetic injectables.

“We have been concerned about the cosmetic injectables industry for some time, and that is why we introduced sweeping changes to their enforceable guidelines … to ensure patients have additional protections and that practitioners do not undertake procedures inappropriately,” Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said. “Safety of the public is paramount, and this Tribunal decision shows we will leave no stone unturned to investigate and take action against practitioners who do the wrong thing.”

Ahpra and the National Boards have published ‘Guidelines for practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures’ and ‘Guidelines for practitioners who advertise higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures’.

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