The Beauty Ban. Council Cracks Down on Botox Cowboys and Back Street Whitening

Aug. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- With public health at risk, as of the 23rd July 2012, the GMC has banned Botox being administered other than by a Doctor, Dentist or a Nurse Practitioner. Tracey Bell has received a number of enquiries from the concerned public with what the changes entail. Doctors are now banned from prescribing Botox and other injectables by email, phone or video link. The GMC can now ensures every patient is required to undertake a face to face consultation with a doctor. All doctors will therefore fully understand the patients medical history and reason for wanting the treatment. The General Dental Council have also been taking action against those who are whitening teeth and are not regulated- only dentists, dental hygienists and therapists working on a dentist's prescription have the authority to conduct the treatment.

All patients wishing to undergo a Botox treatment have to be assessed by a doctor, a dentist or a nurse prescriber. Nurses are no longer allowed to administer Botox remotely, nor are they able to obtain or retain Botox stock. There have been recent cases, such as the BBC undercover report that discovers a doctor who encouraged nurses to ignore GMC rules about remotely prescribing drugs such as Botox has been suspended for up to 18 months pending a review. The Harley Street doctor Dr Mark Harrison was exposed by a BBC London investigation telling nurses how Botox prescriptions could be acquired in one person’s name for use on someone else, despite this practise being banned.

Doctors are forbidden, under GMC rules, from prescribing injectable cosmetic medicines - Dr Harrison was secretly recorded telling nurses to obtain Botox in other peoples’ names for use on walk-in patients. Dr Harrison’s statement proclaimed the practise of using one person’s name for the treatment of others was “common almost universal practice throughout the aesthetics industry” and had “no consequence for patient safety”.

A Merseyside beautician who carried out dental work without being sanctioned to do so was also prosecuted for malpractice. Elaine Taylor-Valles of Southport, who described herself as a “fully qualified beautician”, carried out teeth whitening treatments at her Diamonds salon on Lord Street., Southport.
Taylor-Valles was fined £1,200 and a further £3277 costs after being caught out when a client complained about their procedure. of Westminster Chambers, was caught out after a customer complained after having her teeth whitened. Preston magistrates’ court found her guilty for unlawfully practising dentistry when not registered with the GDC. The GDC issued their statement, saying: “The GDC investigated after receiving a complaint from a member of the public about the manner in which her teeth had been whitened. “During correspondence Ms Taylor-Valles admitted to being a ‘fully qualified beautician’, a title not recognised by the GDC. Anyone considering having tooth whitening should see their GDC-registered dentist.”


OTHER INFORMATION
What the GMC states regarding who can administer Botox.

Doctor Doctors are now unable to prescribe Botox remotely, even for their own patients.  To be able to inject patients the first time they see them is now impossible unless they order wholesale Botox from supplier Allergan directly as the prescription will then be written from the wholesale stock.  If a pharmacy has dispensed the product against a prescription this is NOT wholesale and can legally only be used on the patient for whom it has been dispensed.  If they prescribe for nurses they need to undertake a face-to-face consultation before they write the prescription.

Dentist The GDC stated last year that their registrants should not remotely prescribe Botox.  They should follow the same recommendations for how doctors prescribe as dentists can also purchase wholesale Botox.

Nurse prescriber The guidelines for all professionals now mirror each other in that Botox can no longer be remotely prescribed.


What is remote prescription? A remote prescription is one that is written in another location to that of the patient, typically without an assessment.   Some doctors, such as Dr Harrison in the BBC undercover report, have allegedly been using the telephone to prescribe for nurses’ patients.  This has been banned by the NMC for some time and now the GMC have stated telephones should not be used to prescribe Botox for patients –they must be seen face-to-face by the prescriber who is working with the nurse.

If you are worried or concerned about Botox prescription you can check all health professionals registration at:
http://www.gmc-uk.org/
http://www.gdc-uk.org/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.nmc-uk.org/

Or contact our team at Tracey Bell reinvent@traceybell.co.uk/ 0151 707 0340.
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