How old do you have to be to have Botox?
January 13th, 2014In light of the undercover investigation that appeared on the Mail Online it seems that there are some practitioners in the UK who are willing to prescribe and inject Botox into teenagers. During a time when the industry has been called grubby and a yearning for regulations to be enforced, has this report done more harm than good when it comes to all things related to aesthetics? Out of the 70 clinics that the investigators contacted, it appears that nearly 6% were happy to treat the obviously line free teenagers.
How would the Nursing and Midwifery Council feel about AT and HT being open to administer Botox to a 17 year old? In addition our thoughts go to the General Medical Council’s opinion on Dr HSY for openly admitting prescribing Botox appeared to be purely a financial one. Dr Y was not alone. Whilst Dr CB and Dr TB highlighted concerns about their potential patients being of a young age, they both agreed to inject both teenagers in their clinic.
Whilst the aesthetics industry can be very lucrative, medical professionals should always have in mind that they should not prescribe on the demand of the patient and that consideration should be given to the risks of the treatment and weight that up against any potential benefit gained from the treatment. Alongside this is the question of whether there is a true clinical need for a teenager to have Botox injections? The investigation highlighted that 94% of clinics suggested this was not an appropriate treatment plan for someone of this age.
What is important is to maintain a healthy diet and using an appropriate skin care system, this was only suggested by Dr B. From this report we should all be mindful of the fact that Botox is a prescription only medicine that can have side effects. Each patient should be appropriately assessed and only treated when the need is there. Having to adhere to professional guidance where our priority is to protect the public and ensure good medical practice, has this report identified a lack of patient care?
