Fine for suspended nurse over botched cosmetic injections

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A suspended nurse who injected cosmetic fillers into a woman’s face, causing an abnormality that could last for years, has been fined $5000 but spared a criminal conviction.

Tanya Bechara treated patients in Melbourne on November 17, 2018 after advertising that her business would be visiting for “one day only” from Sydney, but at the time her registration was suspended due to providing unsupervised injections the previous year.

On Monday, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard Ms Bechara had a registered nurse accompany her to a Brunswick skin clinic but she, and not the nurse, injected patients with cosmetic fillers. When the nurse later raised concerns Bechara said, “Oh it’s fine, it’s fine.”

One woman paid $1600 for injections to her lips, forehead and under her eyes.

She experienced pain afterwards and had her top lip “hooking” over the bottom lip, and blue colouring under her eyes, magistrate Trieu Huynh said.

The woman was later told by a doctor the colouring could last up to five years, until the filling substance dissolved.

Mr Huynh said the woman was told the injections would give her “nice and plump limps”, but she was never given paperwork to sign or advised on after-care. Ms Bechara also didn’t explain what products were being used and failed to disinfect the patient’s skin before the injections.

“She became embarrassed and ashamed to be seen in public which heightened her depression,” Mr Huynh said of the victim.

He fined Ms Bechara $5000 after the 41-year-old pleaded guilty to knowingly holding herself out to be a registered health practitioner.

But the magistrate opted not to impose a conviction, saying it would have a negative effect on Ms Bechara’s economic and social well-being, and her future employment prospects. Her suspension from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW still stands.

Ms Bechara must also compensate the victim $2650 for medical bills and pay the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s prosecuting costs.

She was the director of Radiance Cosmetics but has since sold the business.

Mr Huynh said Ms Bechara’s offending had the potential to erode public confidence, and had a physical, emotional, psychological and financial impact on the victim.

“The public ought to have confidence in health practitioners, especially the nursing profession, to be protected from sub-optimal and dangerous practitioners,” he said.

“Be it ego, over-confidence or complacency or a silly or stupid mistake … the decision to [provide] these procedures had a severe impact on [the victim].”

Ms Bechara appeared via a video link on Monday, with her young son seated on her lap, while in hotel quarantine following a recent visit to Uganda to see her former partner.

The court heard that at the time of Ms Bechara’s misconduct her personal life was in turmoil, as she and her then partner had relationship problems and she and her father had experienced health problems.

The magistrate acknowledged those factors, the guilty plea and good prospects for rehabilitation. Ms Bechara had faced a maximum penalty of a $30,000 fine.

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