Public Statement in relation to Ian Haris

05 May 2016

The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission conducted an investigation into cosmetic injection services provided by Mr Ian Haris (aka Ian Norman) to various clients at VL Laser Cosmetic clinic (located at 2 Market Street in the Sydney CBD) during May 2015.

Mr Haris is a de-registered medical practitioner (formerly known as Dr Ian Gregory), who has been prohibited from administering cosmetic injections to members of the public without the direct supervision of a registered medical practitioner since October 2014.

The Commission’s investigation found Mr Haris to have breached the Code of Conduct for non-registered health practitioners in this instance by:

• Administering Schedule 4 (‘prescription only’) medications, namely botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid, via injection to ten clients at VL Laser Cosmetic clinic during May 2015, without the prior authorisation of a registered medical practitioner and/or without the clients having been examined or assessed by a registered medical practitioner;
• providing inappropriate treatment to two of these clients (by injecting one of them in the wrong area and injecting air into the other one’s forehead);
• Improperly using one client’s personal information (her mobile phone number and his knowledge of the profession in which she worked) to verbally harass and intimidate her following her appointment;
• Informing the proprietor of VL Laser Cosmetic clinic that he was a qualified medical practitioner, and allowing her to promote his services to clients on that basis;
• Directly informing two clients that he was a doctor;
• Allowing his services to be marketed by various third parties on the internet in a way that suggests he is still a registered medical practitioner and fully competent to practise as a cosmetic injector, when in fact he has been de-registered for over 15 years and prohibited from practising as a cosmetic injector without supervision since October 2014; and
• Practising while suffering from an impairment that detrimentally affects, or is likely to detrimentally affect, his ability to practise or that places clients at risk of harm.

As a consequence of the determination that Mr Haris has breached the Code of Conduct for non-registered health practitioners and poses a risk to the health or safety of the public, the Commission makes the following prohibition order under Section 41A(2)(a)(i) of the Health Care Complaints Act 1993:

• Mr Haris is prohibited from providing any cosmetic injection services for a period of three years.
• At the conclusion of the three year prohibition period and before providing any cosmetic injection services in future, Mr Haris must personally appear before, and satisfy the Commission that he will abide by the Code of Conduct for non-registered health practitioners and is no longer a risk to public health or safety.

Further Information

See the related media release here.

For further information, contact the Executive Officer of the Health Care Complaints Commission, on 9219 7444.