Beauty clinic ordered to pay damages to woman whose face was damaged by laser treatment

Ray Managh

Dundrum Cosmetic Clinic has been ordered by a court to pay €46,000 damages to a woman whose face was damaged by a botched laser treatment four years ago.

Hui Hao, a 41-year-old graphic designer, of Pugin House, Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Dublin, told Judge Roderick Maguire in the Circuit Civil Court today that for six months in every year, she cannot go out without significant medical and cosmetic protection and often has to stay inside on sunny days.

“If I go out in bright or sunny days my face would now come out in red blotches all over,” she said in her €60,000 negligence claim against Gordosek Limited, which trades in the Dundrum Town Centre as Dundrum Cosmetic Clinic.

Ms Hao told her barrister Deirdre Byrne that the worst six months of the year for her now were from March to October, when she had to be ultra- careful about exposing her skin to the elements, particularly if the days were bright or sunny.

All of her face could, if exposed, come out in red blotches.

Ms Byrne, who appeared with Lauren Doyle of HJ Ward Solicitors, told the court that since Ms Hao had issued her legal proceedings in May 2023, the defendant clinic had totally ignored the claim and a judgment had already been obtained against them for failure to enter an appearance to the claim.

Ms Hao, who is involved in architecture, said she had gone to Dundrum Cosmetic Clinic in September 2021. She had gone to the clinic for the purpose of assessment regarding a very mild pigmentation under her left eye.

She had been told the clinic could assist her through a laser treatment, and she had returned on appointment to undergo the procedure.

“From the moment the doctor applied the laser to my cheek, I was in pain, and I complained about it, but he didn’t stop and continued until the end,” Ms Hao told Judge Maguire.

She said she had been in pain overnight and for days after the treatment and had gone to her GP who had immediately advised her to stop using an unbranded cream the clinic had given her to quell the pain and control the spread of pigmentation across both her cheeks and forehead.

Ms Hao said she had been unable to face her friends and colleagues but had been able to work from home and had not made any claim for loss of earnings.

Judge Maguire said that when Ms Hao had gone to the clinic about a minor issue below one of her eyes, she had been offered two or three laser treatments but had undergone only one.

She had been told pain was normal after the treatment and would go away in a day. It hadn’t and when she returned was given an unmarked phials of cream.

“Pigmentation had broken out around her face and close to her lips, and the cream she was given had no effect,” Judge Maguire said.

Judge Maguire said Ms Hao had been told there would be no improvement in her appearance, and the court had heard evidence of her being unable to go out in the sun between March and October.

She now had to use a particular cream which was not easily available.

“She has significant pigmentation that was not there before the treatment,” Judge Maguire said. “She has had to change her daily life as regards going out and it has led to significant change for her.”

“I fully accept that it will be at its worst during summer, and she has now left with extensive pigmentation all over her face. She has been disfigured after having the treatment.”

Judge Maguire, who had been presented with an album of photographs taken by Ms Hao during her difficulties, said he was satisfied there had been negligence on the part of the defendant and due to serious scarring and the ongoing nature of her injuries and their daily impact on her he would award her €46,496 and costs.

The judge heard that Gordosek Limited had not responded in any way to Ms Hao’s legal proceedings and there was no appearance in court by any legal or other representative on behalf of the company.