Nurses Illegally Injecting Botox
Below is a reprint of an article that appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 10th July, 2009. I believe that there are some excellent nurse injectors but I believe it is important to be transparent and honest about who will be performing the procedure from the outset. Dr Wassall performs all injectable treatments personally and never delegates this task. As with everything, the buyer must beware!
Nurses illegally inject botox with doctors supervising claim
by Kim Christian
NURSES are illegally injecting botox after recruiting doctors to supervise the procedures, cosmetic physicians say.
The Cosmetic Physicians Association of Australia (CPSA) says it's aware of doctors prescribing S4 medicines such as botulinum toxin, or botox, enabling nurses to administer unsupervised treatments.
In a bid to stamp out the practice, the CPSA has taken the unusual step of criticising fellow doctors and nurses.
CPSA president Gabrielle Caswell said the organisation was aware of "a couple of dozen" doctors who were illegally prescribing medicines to nurses to carry out "volumizer" treatment.
"We find it very inappropriate that there are doctors that are doing this inappropriate act and that's why we've basically decided that we want to stop the practice," Dr Caswell said.
There were more than two cases of nurses being investigated by medical authorities, she said.
A doctor has to complete a full medical history and examination before administering filler treatment such as botox, she said.
Dr Caswell said it was illegal and against medical board guidelines for nurses to administer botox treatments without a doctor's supervision.
However, she said there were cases of nurses holding botox parties and travelling interstate to carry out the treatments.
"We are aware of nurses attempting to encourage doctors, who may or may not be experienced in cosmetic medicine, to provide the order for unsupervised administration of injectable medications without the doctors having any access to the patients," she said.
"The nurses are seeking doctors to perform this task as they are unable to access the medicines themselves."
The CPSA has written to nurses boards, medical boards and state health departments to draw public attention to the issue.
"Maybe things that have become habitual have to be sometimes pulled into line," she said.