€25,000 damages for woman given tattoo line during lip treatment procedure

A woman who went for a lip-line cosmetic treatment as a birthday treat and ended up with a tattoo line allegedly in the wrong…

A woman who went for a lip-line cosmetic treatment as a birthday treat and ended up with a tattoo line allegedly in the wrong place over her lip has secured €25,000 damages at the High Court.

Anne McCaffrey (62), Scholarstown Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, had sued Advanced Cosmetic Surgery Ltd, Malahide Marina, Malahide, Dublin (in liquidation). Damages were assessed at €25,000, including special damages to include the price of the original procedure at €254 and €700 for lip pencils and make-up used to disguise the tattooed line.

Outlining the case, John Shortt SC, for Ms McCaffrey, said she attended an Advanced Cosmetic Surgery clinic at Lower Leeson Street, Dublin on October 26th, 2000 for the semi-permanent lip-line treatment. He said she suffered a “botched job”, leaving permanent disfigurement to the lower lip. A line was put in the wrong place over her lips. The line over her top lip faded after seven years but the bottom line had not, he said.

Mr Justice Éamon de Valera said it was clearly very traumatic for Ms McCaffrey at the time.