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Brazil’s Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), the professional body that regulates medical practice in the country, has banned doctors from using polymethyl methacrylate, known as PMMA, as a filler for cosmetic or reconstructive procedures.
The rule takes effect on June 2, 2026, when CFM Resolution No. 2,461/2026 is set to be published in the Official Gazette. The council said the ban applies nationwide and covers medical use of PMMA as an injectable filler.
The Only Exception
The CFM allowed one narrow exception: treatment of lipodystrophy in patients with HIV/AIDS. That use must take place in high-complexity units accredited by Brazil’s public health system, the Unified Health System (SUS), and follow Health Ministry clinical protocols.
PMMA is a permanent, non-absorbable material. It is used in products such as contact lenses, orthopedic cement and implants, but has also been used in recent years for facial and body fillers.
G1 reported that Brazil’s health regulator, Anvisa, had already warned professionals and patients in 2022 that PMMA products had approved indications for correcting tissue defects and facial or body volume loss when medically necessary, not for purely aesthetic enlargement. The CFM had previously asked Anvisa to ban the sale of PMMA altogether, but the regulator has not done so.
Deaths Raised Pressure
The decision followed renewed attention to deaths associated with PMMA applications. Roseli Fernandes de Oliveira Romeiro Vieira, 48, died in São Paulo on May 26 after undergoing a procedure involving PMMA in the buttocks and the back of the thighs, according to G1, Poder360, UOL and CNN Brasil.
G1, citing a police report and testimony from Vieira’s daughter, said she began feeling unwell one day after the application, with pain, malaise, a racing heart and difficulty breathing.
CNN Brasil and UOL also cited earlier cases. CNN reported that influencer Aline Ferreira died in 2024 after a PMMA procedure in the buttocks. UOL, citing Estadão Conteúdo, reported that Adriana Barros Lima Laurentino, 46, died in Recife in January 2025 after undergoing a similar procedure.
Medical Societies Back Ban
Brazilian medical societies have long opposed aesthetic use of the substance. The Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP) said in a 2024 statement that PMMA is permanent and non-absorbable, with complications that can appear years after application.
The group listed risks including nodules, granulomas, chronic inflammation, embolisms, tissue necrosis, persistent infections, hypercalcemia, kidney failure, irreversible deformities and death. It said removal can require mutilating procedures with significant functional and aesthetic consequences.
Poder360 reported that the SBCP supported the new CFM resolution and said it had already advised its members to avoid PMMA “in any circumstance or quantity” because of the risks and available scientific evidence.
The Brazilian Society of Dermatology (SBD) also backed a ban, according to G1. UOL reported that the SBD warned of short-term reactions such as swelling, inflammation, allergic reactions and granuloma formation, as well as late complications years after injection.
CFM president José Hiran da Silva Gallo told G1 that safer products are now available in medicine. “Over time, it became clear that the risks far outweigh its possible benefits,” he said, adding that PMMA complications can occur late and even when the product is applied by medical specialists.