The young Lunelloise performed hyaluronic acid injections “for practice” in her father’s air conditioning store.

Le tribunal a déclaré la jeune femme coupable d'exercice illégal de la médecine et travail dissimulé. Midi Libre – RICHARD DE HULLESSEN

A young Lunel resident was recently sentenced for illegal practice of medicine, after having injected hyaluronic acid, a substance intended to reduce wrinkles. She claimed to have performed these acts for free, as part of her training.

Prosecuted for illegal practice of medicine and concealed work, a young Lunelloise recently appeared before the Montpellier criminal court for having performed, between December 2021 and May 2002, injections of hyaluronic acid (a substance used to reduce wrinkles) , in his father's business premises. She had set up a treatment space in a room of this air conditioning business.

A treatment salon discovered during another investigation

It was while investigating the parents' company that the gendarmes discovered this beauty salon installed in one of the rooms of the store, with a massage table, syringes, but also a hairdressing suitcase. Indeed, investigations will reveal that the young woman also offered hair straightening and tooth whitening services, as indicated on a dedicated Facebook page.

Heard by the investigators, the father explains that he made this room available to his daughter so that she could practice as part of her training. His mother confirms: it was not a commercial activity but a trial. She specifies that her daughter stopped performing hyaluronic acid injections after watching a television report on the ban on this practice outside the medical context.

Remunerated or free acts ?

The young woman, then aged 18, declared to the gendarmes that she had received injection training and had provided her services to around twenty people, mainly those around her, and without any remuneration. At the hearing, President Fabrice Parisi expressed his doubts on this point. "I was looking for myself a little professionally", explains the defendant on the stand.

But for the prosecutor, Marie-Françoise Treil, there is no valid reason for the young woman to have offered these expensive services free of charge. She observed that the defendant purchased the products, even though she had claimed to have obtained them as part of her training. For the representative of the public prosecutor, who emphasizes the risk represented by these acts, outside the medical framework, "the illegal practice of medicine is characterized", just like hidden work. Taking into account the young age of the defendant at the time of the facts, and her clean criminal record, she requires 5,000 € fine. 

Defense contests commercial activity

For the defense lawyer, no act of the investigation reveals that his client was paying for her services. "Her Facebook page only had 14 followers, and the premises did not have the appearance of a real institute", he adds to contest the existence of' ;#39;a commercial activity. He hopes that the doubt will benefit the young woman, regarding the undeclared activity, and that in the event of conviction, it will not appear on his list. criminal record:  "She must be given the chance to practice the profession she has chosen.&quot ; A job unrelated to the world of aesthetics: driving school instructor.

The court found the Lunelloise guilty of the two acts with which she was accused and sentenced her to 5,000 € fine, including 4,000 € suspended. He also heard the request made by the defense: this sentence is exempt from registration in the criminal record.

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