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Hair transplants are surgery and need trained doctors, says medical regulator
The National Medical Commission's ethics board has set out guidelines on hair transplantation after a serious infection was reported following a procedure in Kochi.
Key points
- The NMC says hair transplantation must be performed by trained, licensed doctors.
- Any procedure involving an incision to harvest tissue counts as surgery under the guidelines.
- Clinics must have the infrastructure to manage complications.
The National Medical Commission (NMC), India’s medical regulator, has issued guidelines that treat hair transplants as surgery, to be done only by qualified doctors. The guidelines come from the commission’s Ethics and Medical Registration Board.
The guidelines follow a serious infection reported after a hair transplant in Kochi, Kerala.
Hair transplantation “is a surgical procedure requiring specialised medical training”, the guidelines say, and it “must be performed by appropriately trained and licensed doctors” rather than treated as a cosmetic service. Clinics that offer it must have adequate infrastructure and arrangements in place to manage complications.
The guidelines also spell out what counts as surgery. Any procedure that involves making an incision to harvest tissue, or to prepare the scalp or another part of the body to receive it, falls in that category.