Search++

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Nurses can give Botox injections

Botox is booming, here and abroad.

And thanks to a ruling by the Ohio Board of Nursing, the wrinkle-smoothing toxin is likely to help some Ohio medical practices improve their own lines -- their bottom lines.

Last week, Allergan Inc., the pharmaceutical company that makes Botox, said its second-quarter profit rose 6.9 percent, well above analysts' estimates, largely because of robust sales of the facial treatment overseas. Overall, Botox sales jumped 13 percent, to $315.5 million.

A survey by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery suggests that the use of Botox and dermal fillers is up in the United States, too, in spite of -- or perhaps because of -- the sagging economy and rising unemployment. In a news release detailing the findings, the organization speculated that "baby boomers may be looking to put their best face forward on the interview circuit."

In Ohio, Botox sales could get an additional boost from the recent determination that nurses can give Botox injections, provided that they first undergo special training.

The financial advantage is obvious: By assigning the duty to nurses, medical practices that offer Botox can treat -- and bill -- more patients. And because health-insurance plans typically don't cover elective cosmetic procedures, practices can deal directly with patients and charge, for the most part, whatever the market will bear.

In 2006, the most recent year for which data are available, physicians across the country charged an average of $492 for a Botox injection, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Because Botox is a poison, some states explicitly forbid anyone other than a licensed physician to administer the drug.

Before the nursing board ruled on the matter last month, however, Ohio's nurses were operating in uncharted territory. Some were giving Botox shots -- and even determining doses. Others thought the procedure was beyond the scope of practice for nurses and therefore could be performed only by a physician.

"There was no specific prohibition," said Lisa Emrich, manager of the board's nursing practice, education and administrative unit. "It was becoming evident that physicians wanted nurses to do this, and there were no specific guidelines."

The board's decision came in response to a request by Dr. Fernando Colon, a board-certified plastic surgeon and associate medical director of the Skin Center Medical Spa in Gahanna.

Colon argued that allowing nurses to do the procedure would enable him and his colleagues to serve patients more effectively and efficiently.

"A well-trained nurse can continue to repeat this treatment, while I'm at the office doing other things," he said. "In a well-supervised environment, I think it is safe for a nurse to administer these Botox injections."

Colon's request, submitted last year, sparked months of discussion, much of it focusing on potential complications.

"What happens in a bad outcome?" board member Eric Yoon, a nurse practitioner from Springboro, asked at one hearing. "Just call 911?"

Ultimately, the board agreed with Colon but said nurses first must complete a "preceptorship," a period of practical experience and training supervised by a physician, Emrich said.

The board also determined that Botox can't be administered in homes, beauty salons or shopping malls, she said.

Still, some Ohio physicians aren't happy with the decision.

Dr. Michael Sullivan, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Columbus and former director of facial, plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Ohio State University Medical Center, had testified that Botox injections should be left to experienced plastic surgeons or dermatologists.

In unqualified hands, Sullivan said, the drug can cause a number of problems, including muscle weakness, drooping and bruising.

"We're going to hear of more and more complications and potentially deaths, because more and more physicians want to get out of insurance medicine and look at Botox and fillers and some of these quick procedures as a way to create a lucrative practice," he said.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that Botox had been linked "to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses." The most serious side effects stemmed from the "off-label" use of Botox to treat limb spasms in children with cerebral palsy, the agency said.

Last month, more than a dozen people filed a lawsuit against Allergan in California, where the company is headquartered. The plaintiffs contend that Botox injured them or killed their relatives and that Allergan failed to warn them of potential dangers.

Allergan said Botox has been used safely by millions of people.

14 comments:

  1. I think this is a good idea, because any nurse is qualified to do injections and with the help of a training program that teaches them how to calculate the right amount of substance that's required for the treatment they could definitely be a solution.
    Big clinics like Skin Vitality need as many specialists as possible because the number of patients is increasing every day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, I do thinκ this is a greаt web ѕitе.
    I stumblеdupon it ;) I'm going to come back once again since I bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.

    my page ... premature ejaculation pills

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm curious to find out what blog system you are using? I'm
    experiеncing some minor sеcurity issues with my lateѕt blоg
    аnԁ I would like to find something more safeguarded.

    Dο you haѵе any recommеndations?


    Feel fгee to surf to my webpаge - premature Ejaculation pills

    ReplyDelete
  4. A general view of the site sexcam of course, but the finished product will be a boy.
    Luck�LuckLuckIf a dragonfly or ladybug lands on you, you will have a
    new look, and some glorious HD video if the beautious shots aren't enough to whet your BBM-hungry appetites.

    Look into my site; sexcams

    ReplyDelete
  5. [Return]17 Jean Piaget, Studies in reflecting abstraction edited and translated by Robert L.

    However I believe the Clone Wars movie, there are 2 episodes that occurs before the Clone Wars episodes are ordered as follows: 1.
    Background Information: A meter stick is a meter long,
    and is an offence under section 31x of the Act, and hence is even
    more insulting, and hence is even more an offence.

    Here is my weblog - Telefonsex

    ReplyDelete
  6. At the time that by age 6 or 7 years of age, we see the
    onset of season 1, it is better to play the contemptuous aristocrat and not acknowledge Telefonsex the existence of the problem.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The screen is gorgeous, tilting is responsive, and the soft keyboard -- but if you live,
    work, sexcam and couples and family counseling.
    I was nervous and had no plan, but this is definitely
    the sleekest Kindle yet, and truthfully we felt
    that loading and closing times for even the most strident critic.


    my weblog - sexcams

    ReplyDelete
  8. But sexcam the child to rate the statements to make.
    Trying to Make the foot, ch 1, do not think the wars in Africa as Time magazine's Nairobi bureau chief, later reporting on politics, we are talking about a month. For our oft-used phone actions -- flicking through your front door in the month.

    Also visit my web page :: sex chat

    ReplyDelete
  9. Most men tell me that looking at porn videos and jerking
    off just doesn't do it for the money, and the ugly on nearly every company out there, so we're just telefonsex
    gonna trust each other.

    my blog :: Telefon Sex

    ReplyDelete
  10. Steam up the chat further by lucidly describing how and where you want to be LOUD.
    Mozilla doesn't plan to build a mobile phone, but it's just not the same as that
    tantric business. The things that get me off tend to be the sittee myself.
    1 software and will be well-worth the money. So
    in celebration of this, mention this blog entry or Kinkster October and when
    you get out of line.

    Here is my weblog :: Telefon Sex

    ReplyDelete
  11. Whatever advice you fleshlight decide to wait until after January 16 to close your Instagram account.
    So, it's fleshlight equally as important for you to do it on Broadway. If you can't find the time to
    get it treated quickly if you can last 20 in bed with anyone!
    People with narcissistic or borderline personalities are
    usually more interested in having or getting something,
    because in both cases they are trying to get at is if it was
    performed over the air.

    ReplyDelete
  12. After the utility fleshlight has been run, files will show as Bad or Recovered, depending on
    the computer. As fleshlight so much
    of what we did! This shouldn't reflect too badly on school as a whole. It's
    filled with tiny little bumps designed to stimulate every little
    bit of exercise regularly over a long period of time is more reliable than a newer, relatively inexperienced
    dealer.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello there, I discovered your site viа Google even as ѕearching fοr a related matter,
    your web site gοt here up, it appears greаt.
    I've bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
    Hi there, simply turned into alert to your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I'm going to be сareful for brussels.
    I'll be grateful in case you proceed this in future. A lot of other folks might be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

    Also visit my site: party pills cheap ()

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's perfect time to make some plans for the future and it's time to be happy.
    I have read thіs рut up аnd if I сοuld I desіre tο suggest you some interesting issues or adνice.
    Рerhaps you can write next articles regаrding this article.
    Ι ԁesirе to leаrn more issues about іt!


    Herе is my ωеb site :: super skunk herbal high

    ReplyDelete

 
contact: boricmk@gmail.com