A French surgeon operating at a Dublin cosmetic clinic has been suspended from the Medical Council's register, pending the outcome of an inquiry by a fitness to practice committee.
The move follows a High Court application by the council a number of weeks ago, after the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) expressed concern that the surgeon was travelling to Dublin to perform major operations, allegedly without providing sufficient aftercare.
The RCSI also told the council it was concerned that major anti-obesity surgery was being conducted in a cosmetic clinic rather than a large hospital.
RCSI was specifically concerned about this doctor and argued that the procedure, known as gastric banding, should only be done in a major clinic.
The surgeon in question was working on a freelance basis out of the Advanced Cosmetic Surgery (ACS) clinic in Dublin. He will be unable to practice in Ireland until the outcome of the inquiry is known.
Halina Ashdown Sheils, managing director of ACS, last night said the workings, and in particular the hearings of the Medical Council are in-camera, and entirely private and confidential to the individuals involved.
"ACS were not, and are not, a party to the inquiry and have no role whatsoever in terms of the investigations or outcome. The matter is entirely personal to the clinician . . . ACS wish him well, but can make no comment whatsoever in respect of matters that do not involve them.
"Advanced Cosmetic Surgery has carried out 300 gastric banding procedures since 2006, and 23,000 cosmetic surgeries since 1993."
Ms Ashdown Sheils said she had a gastric band fitted by the doctor in question last April before introducing it to ACS.
"If I were not fully confident in his abilities, I would not have hired him," she said.
"We have recently invited an independent medical body to make a full clinical audit of our clinics and we will make the results known as soon as possible.
ACS describes itself as the largest cosmetic provider in Ireland and has been in business for over 14 years. It says it has performed over over 60,000 non-surgical procedures in this time.
The Medical Council has previously warned the public about the dangers of attending cosmetic surgery clinics that do not have recognised surgeons in residence. In 2004 it issued a warning after a woman, who sought treatment for a post-operative infection, found that her surgeon had returned to continental Europe.
The surgeon involved was subsequently found guilty of professional misconduct by the Medical Council as a result of failing to provide continuity of care for his patient.
At the time, Medical Council president Dr Patrick Hillery said that doctors were flying in and out of the State to provide cosmetic surgery and while they are required to be registered with the council, he was worried about the level of aftercare this allowed patients.