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| Meg hosts adjournment debate on Body Piercing 27/02/03 27 Feb 2003 : Column 466 Body Piercing Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn. - [Mr. Jim Murphy.] 4.5 pm Ms Meg Munn (Sheffield, Heeley): Daniel Hindle was a healthy, active teenager with a passion for music. He attended Sheffield college, studying media, English and information technology. He was a skilful guitarist and, by last summer, he had formed his own band, which had already started playing gigs and was in demand for further performances. Daniel had a girlfriend and, last October, they decided that they would get a piercing together. They went to a popular studio in Sheffield, where his girlfriend had her eyebrow pierced and Dan had his lip pierced. That turned out to be the catalyst for the nightmare that was to ensue. A few days after the piercing, he became ill and slowly got worse. He was admitted to hospital and subsequently into the coronary care unit. He was infected by septicaemia, or blood poisoning, which attacked his major organs and left him too weak to fight the infection. A few days before Christmas, on 21 December, Daniel lost his fight for life. He was 17 years old. Daniel and his girlfriend did what many teenagers do; they decided to get a piercing - the sort of thing that ordinary teenagers do. Tragically, Daniel was not an ordinary teenager. He had been born with a heart defect called Tricuspid Atresia - a condition that had necessitated two life - saving operations when he was younger. Both operations were 100 per cent. successful, and Daniel had grown up normally with an excellent quality of life. Daniel was not aware that for him, piercing could pose a serious health risk. His mother, Christina Anderson, believes that if he had been aware of the risk, he probably would not have had it done. Unfortunately, nobody drew that possibility to his attention before or during his visit to the piercing studio. There is no suggestion that the studio did anything wrong. It was not ignoring Government regulations. Astonishingly, there are no regulations for body piercers in Sheffield. Local authorities in London have powers to control ear piercing and cosmetic body piercing businesses by licensing, using provisions in the London Local Authorities Act 1991, or by registration and byelaws, using provisions in the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1981. The majority of London local authorities have adopted licensing powers. Local authorities outside London have powers to register and make byelaws for ear piercing businesses under the provisions of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, but not for cosmetic body piercing businesses. Sheffield city council"s website contains information about body piercing, stating that it does not require registration. It provides information, however, on how to register on a voluntary basis with the health protection service, which offers that service. Those who register with the authority receive a premises inspection to ensure that appropriate standards are being achieved and a certificate stating that the premises and practices are suitable and sufficient. 27 Feb 2003 : Column 467 Sheffield"s voluntary code of practice aims to "offer guidance to body piercers regarding the practice of body piercing and outlines specific recommended hygienic procedures." That includes that body piercing shall not be undertaken on any person under the age of 16 unless parental consent is given, and an expectation that proof of age will be requested. It advises that the client"s medical history should be discussed and draws attention to particular conditions that should lead a client to consult a general practitioner before proceeding. Those include heart disease, major infections, allergies and skin complaints. That is good advice, but registration is voluntary. No statutory requirement exists to find out how old someone is before piercing them, and no law exists stopping a child under 16 from being pierced. No compulsion exists to find out whether a customer, such as Daniel, has a heart defect. The Government have stated on a number of occasions that they believe that primary legislation should be introduced to give local authorities outside London powers to regulate the hygiene and cleanliness of cosmetic body piercing businesses when parliamentary time allows. I am aware that that issue was raised recently in the Local Government Bill Committee. I have also spoken to my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and the Regions urging him to seek to amend the Bill if at all possible to introduce this provision.Parliament needs to act now. Daniel"s death is already one death too many. Today, I am not just asking for legislation to be changed. I want to raise awareness of the health risks of body piercing and I want the Department of Health to consider what it can do to raise awareness. I understand from previous parliamentary answers that the Department does not have information on the number of people who seek medical help as a result of body piercing. In answer to my written parliamentary question in January, the Minister stated that the Department was not aware of any research into the risks of body piercing for individuals with congenital heart disease, although there have been a small number of published case reports from abroad of endocarditis in individuals with congenital heart disease following skin piercing. That is not the only area of medical risk, however. A search of the internet has revealed the following information. Dr. Junaid Hanif of Heath hospital in Cardiff carried out a study of body piercing last year. He discovered that "more than 95% of GPs in Greater Manchester have treated complications caused by body piercing in the past year and incidences in England and Wales of damage to ear cartilage caused by piercing have doubled in the last decade with more than 2,000 cases reported in 2001." Writing in the August 2002 issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, Drs. Akhondi and Rahimi of the Mercer university school of medicine in Georgia reported the case of one 25-year-old man who became seriously ill soon after having his tongue pierced. The man had a heart defect, and blood tests revealed that his heart was infected with a type of mouth bacteria, and the stud of the piercing also tested positive for the presence of the same bacteria. Thankfully, that young man survived after a period in hospital. |
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