The warning came after the country’s coroner Caitlin English investigated the Beverly Wilshire Clinic in Kuala Lumpur following the death of Leigh Aiple three years ago.
According to ABC news, Aiple had come to Malaysia in 2014 to undergo plastic surgery.
Over a five-day span at the Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre, Aiple underwent an abdominoplasty, liposuction, lip augmentation, gynecomastia, a chin lift, and an upper eye lift.
Five days later, he was given the all clear to fly home but less than a day after returning to Australia, Aiple died at the age of 31, having suffered from shortness of breath, an accelerated heartbeat, and bouts of unconsciousness.
Aiple had paid more than A$35,000 (about RM109,358) for the plastic surgery package.
Professor Mark Ashton, the president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, said that medical tourism was unregulated and often designed to maximize the amount of surgery done within as short a time span as possible.
“Having surgery overseas comes with significant risk as it comes with no guarantee as to the standard of care you will receive. There is no such thing as an international standard.”
Professor Ashton noted that in Malaysia, Aiple was regarded as a moderate-risk patient. In Australia, he would have been regarded as a high-risk patient, due to his weight of 124 kilogrammes.
Furthermore, the level of anti-blood clotting treatment administered was below the recommended levels in Australia.
Medical negligence lawyer Emily Hart noted that the medical standards in Malaysia were inadequate when compared to Australian medical standards.
“The standards in Malaysia were met in this case, but they come nowhere near the standards here in Australia. These companies are putting profit over patient safety,” she said.
English, who had investigated the treatment concurred with Hart, saying that it was not up to the standards of treatment at Australian clinics.
She said, “The Australian medical tourist will not necessarily be aware of the difference in standards of medical practice and management of patient care.”