VANCOUVER — Customers who got Botox injections or plastic surgery from a Delta woman are being urged by the College of Physicians and Surgeons to get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
In December, the college obtained a court order to raid a home where it alleged Zhuo (Sabrina) Li was operating a basement business called Sabrina Permanent Make-up Studio Inc., offering cosmetic medical services that she was not legally authorized to provide.
The college said Tuesday that there was no evidence that the surgical instruments used by Li were properly sterilized by a high-pressure steam unit called an autoclave.
“Based on the findings, the College believes it is highly probable that Ms. Li was performing cosmetic surgery such as facial injections, eyelid lifts and facial implants, which are restricted activities that only qualified medical professionals are authorized to perform,” said Dr. Heidi Oetter, the college registrar and CEO.
The college is responsible for licensing and regulating physicians. “The college takes action against those who put the public at risk by practising medicine unlawfully. This is a very serious matter,” Oetter said.
The court order authorized the college to seize all items it believed Li was using in her “unlicensed practice of medicine.”
Carted away during the three-hour search and seizure were boxes and vials of injectable medication including Bocouture (botulinum toxin type A) and lidocaine hydrochloride (a local anesthetic), prescription medication (ofloxacin eye drops), syringes, needles, suture forceps, surgical clamps, surgical scissors and scalpel blades.
The college said it also seized receipts for transactions ranging from $300 to $5,000.
A court order temporarily restrains Li from offering any service that is supposed to be provided only by physicians.
In a statement, the college says a positive test result for hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV might not prove an individual was infected at Li’s business, but it should lead any affected customers to obtain treatment from licensed physicians.
