Photo of Chinese actress's necrotic nose Photo: Sina Weibo

Following a Chinese actress exposing her failed plastic surgery that gave her a necrotic nose, the medical authority ruled that the doctor was suspended from practicing for six months, the hospital was fined 49,000 yuan ($7,456) and the actress has reached a compromise with the hospital.

Actress Gao Liu wrote on her Sina Weibo account in February that she was introduced to a plastic surgery hospital in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, to have work on her nose in October 2020. However, the surgery was not successful, and she suffered repeated nose infections as well as nasal necrosis. 

"I later found out that the plastic surgery hospital was not qualified to carry out the nose surgery," Gao wrote. 

Gao's experience sparked wide discussion on the safety of plastic surgery among Chinese netizens.

The local health bureau responded after two days and stated that they have started an investigation into the matter. 

The Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission published a statement on the official website on March 25, saying that the doctor who performed the surgery for Gao did not obtain the correct qualification for independently carrying out cosmetic surgery, so will be suspended from practicing for six months.

The hospital was also punished for allowing the unqualified doctor to perform the surgery, in violation of the Regulation of Medical Beauty Treatment. The hospital was fined 49,000 yuan.

Some Chinese netizens were dissatisfied with these punishments, considering the penalty is too light to effectively warn the plastic surgery industry and prevent similar cases from happening again.

Lü Xiaoquan, a women's rights lawyer based in Beijing, also thought that the penalty is light considering the actress's loss, whether financial, physical or mental. 

"The case demonstrates that the regulation for the medical beauty industry should continue to be amended according to the present situation and suggestions from the public," the lawyer said.

For the loss of Gao, Lü noted the punishments do not stop her from suing the doctor and the hospital to seek compensation.

Gao told Shanghai-based The Paper that she has reached a compromise with the hospital and did not mention the conditions.

The cosmetic surgery industry in China has been expanding for years. The Chinese Association of Plastic and Aesthetics predicted that China's plastic surgery market is expected to reach 300 billion yuan by 2022, with strong market demand also driving the rapid development of upstream products and industries, as China Central Television reported on Monday.