Botox Regulations Toughened by GMC
The General Medical Council (GMC) has published a new document concerning the use of botox which is aimed at recuding medical complications that occur as a result of a popular trend called ‘botox parties’.
The GMC’s ‘Good Practice in Prescribing Medicines’ guidance has been amended to target improperly performed botox procedures that do not meet supply and administration requirements, especially if a medical doctor is not present during the procedure.
Before the release of the amended document, doctors have been able to prescribe botox to groups of people, which enabled a nurse to perform the procedure on a group of people without them needing to see a doctor. However, from now on prescriptions of botox and other non-surgical cosmetic treatments will have to be “patient specific”, according to a GMC spokesman who was interviewed by the Daily Telegraph.
“The doctor must know the patient’s medical history or have for example seen a photo of the patient,” he added. “This is because the treatment is delivered by injection and the doctor needs to be able to assess where (for example on the face) the injection is needed and where it should not be administered.”
Patients are recommended to only address reputable plastic surgery clinics at all times to receive botox injections and should strictly avoid alcohol consumption in botox parties.
