Face burnt in laser treatment

IAIN MCGREGOR/The Press

SCARRED: Canterbury woman Valerie Nyhan, who was burnt while having laser treatment, wants people to know of the risks involved.

RISKY BUSINESS: Valerie Nyhan before laser treatment, top, and with burns suffered during the procedure.

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A Canterbury woman left badly scarred after laser resurfacing to reduce wrinkles hopes her warning about the treatment's risks will prevent similar incidents.

Valerie Nyhan, 69, suffered scarring to her upper lip after undergoing a CO2 laser resurfacing procedure by a Christchurch specialist in September 2008.

The Templeton woman said she was left devastated by severe burns and scarring.

"I thought, 'What have I done?' I couldn't believe it," she said.

For a time she had to wear a mask for up to 21 hours a day to treat the scarring and relieve pain.

She had remedial plastic surgery last year that was paid for by the ACC because it was a "treatment injury".

Nyhan said she did not want compensation, but she wanted to ensure no-one suffered similar scarring.

"I'm not at all interested in claiming. I just don't want this to happen to anyone else."

She said she was not told enough about the risks of the procedure.

Her warning comes a week after the Health and Disability Commissioner reminded practitioners using intense pulsed light (IPL) for skin conditions to warn patients of the risks.

Two women suffered blistering after IPL treatment provided by a Chinese-medicine practitioner.

In a letter to the ACC last March, the specialist who treated Nyhan said her scarring was "an unusual and excessive reaction to this fractional laser treatment".

"A degree of injury is always necessary to produce good results, but, unfortunately, Valerie developed hypertrophic scars which have required ongoing management. This is not an ordinary consequence of this type of laser treatment, but it is understood that it can occasionally occur," he wrote.

His clinic had considerable experience with the laser procedure and had not encountered such an outcome before, he told the ACC.

He apologised for the outcome and offered to refund Nyhan's $4760 treatment fees as a gesture of good faith if she accepted it as a full and final and confidential settlement, with a denial of liability.

Nyhan told The Press she had refused the offer and made a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner, who has yet to decide whether to investigate.

The specialist told The Press he would not comment on an individual case because of patient confidentiality.

He said CO2 laser treatment was a valuable therapeutic tool.

"We always do our best for people, but scarring can, unfortunately, occur," the specialist said.

The Health and Disability Commissioner has sought advice from an independent specialist as part of the assessment.

- © Fairfax NZ News