Aquagel banned for penis enlargement – surgeon

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – Using aquagel for penis enlargement is not approved by the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD), both in the United States and in the Philippines, according to Dr. Hector Santos, president of the Plastics and Aesthetic Surgeons Association. Santos gave this information on Wednesday at a House hearing staged days after a businessman filed criminal and civil cases against cosmetic surgeons Manny and Pie Calayan. The complainant, Louem Martinez, accused the Calayans of leaving his penis deformed and in constant pain after an enlargement operation done in September 2007 at the Calayan Surgicentre in Makati. According to Santos, aquagels are used on the face to remove freckles, an operation that should be done only by legitimate surgeons. "It is being used in dermal filler," Santos said at the hearing at the House Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation. "It is acceptable on the face. But not in organs like the penis, because you would remove the blood supply." Santos gave the information in answer to a question asked by Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, an obstetrician-gynecologist. The hearing was headed by the committee chairman, Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr. "The one which was advocated by the recent reports which is hydrogel aquagel actually originated from China, which is 90 to 95 water and five percent gel," Santos said. "It has never been proven and is not FDA approved for injection for penis or for enlargement." The patient, Santos added, may suffer from erectile dysfunction as a result. Surgeons should have taken fat from the patient’s body and should not have used the banned aquagel, which is just five percent gel. Martinez filed charges of estafa and reckless imprudence resulting to physical injury and obstruction of justice, along with a P26-million damage suit against the Calayans. He said the operation, for which he paid P145,000, had left him with a penis he could not use for sex because of the constant pain. Martinez said he checked with doctors in the US, where he is a naturalized citizen, and found out that using aquagel in a penis enlargement operation may be cancerous. - GMANews.TV