After a Botox- and cosmetic filler-provider known as ‘Dr. Lipjob’ barely avoided jail for contempt of court, B.C.’s College of Physicians and Surgeons is warning people seeking dermal fillers or Botox treatments to avoid unlicenced practitioners.
The caution came January 23 after the BC Supreme Court ordered five days earlier that Rajdeep Kaur Khakh serve a 30-day suspended sentence and two years probation.
She had been court-ordered in March 2018 to stop holding herself out as a doctor. The conviction and sentence came after the college asked the court to find Khakh in contempt of that order – which it did on January 18.
The court fined Khakh $5,000, $300 of which will go to the main contempt case witness, who had paid that amount to Khakh for a dermal filler injection, the college said.
The case dates back to March 2015 when the college became aware of Khakh’s activities at a spa in Delta. She was directed to stop and to cease using the title ‘Dr.’
She later provided a signed but unwitnessed undertaking to that effect, the college said.
In May 2015, the college received a call from Clearbrook library advising that a photocopy of a college licence certificate of licensure with tape covering the original registrant’s name, expiry date and registration status had been found in a photocopier. The name ‘Dr. Rajdeep Kaur Khakh’ had been written over top of the original name and the expiry date had been altered, the college said.
Between May and November 2015, pharmaceutical company sales representatives told the college Khakh had attempted to use the document from the library to open accounts, the college said.
One company said Khakh had successfully opened an account and owed $164,000 and was providing injectable treatment at a Surrey spa, the college said.
In June 2014, the college was told a person identifying herself as ‘Dr. Rajji’ was calling herself a physician and performing injectable services at a hair salon in Surrey, B.C.
The college was told ‘Dr. Rajji’ markets herself on social media as ‘DrLipJob’ and soon determined that “Dr. Rajji” was Khakh.
After engaging a security company to perform an undercover investigation, the college eventually applied to and received an injunction against Khakh. She breached that, however, resulting in the suspended sentence and fine.
“Receiving a medical service such as injections from an unlicensed practitioner is risky and has the potential for complications, including reaction to agents, infections or greater harm due to human error,” the college said. “There is no assurance that the practitioner is competent or qualified to provide treatment, or that the material and equipment used are safe.”
