Big news, Shoppers Drug Mart in the GTA will start to offer Botox. Some are confused, shocked, angry, and well others are really excited! The first Shoppers Drug Mart to offer Botox is in Oakville, followed by 2 locations in Toronto.
Skin Worthy is part of the really excited group. Rachel Huckle who is the SVP of Shoppers says ”Our research shows these types of cosmetic procedures are second only to manicures and pedicures," in a recent #BlogTO article. We couldn’t agree more that the beauty revolution is coming if not here already, and this is becoming a part of ones normal self care routine. Shoppers Drug Mart is a chain that is accessible, well known, and part of our everyday lives. Shoppers will continue to not only normalize, but de-stigmatize cosmetic procedures, which in years past have been harshly judged.
Prices for cosmetic procedures will be moderately priced, $10/unit for Botox and syringes of filler for $550. Skeptics and concerned Physicians in a recent article state they are
concerned about about the lack of physician presence on site, and inadequately trained practitioners
They don’t seem to be concerned about the competition but instead of the regulation of such medical procedures being done in such a setting, and possible outcomes or serve adverse events.
Skin Worthy can understand these physician concerns as they are real, and there is probably much training and logistics to be organized. On the other hand the public, these concerned physicians and Health Canada, should be much more concerned about the practitioners for example- nurses working from their homes. There is no regulation in these settings. A home is considered an unclean injection site. Health Canada is not aware they exist, nor did they have to follow any regulations that a clinic needs to fulfill when opening. They are considered illegal cosmetic clinics, yet this area of medicine is vastly under regulated. There is no Physician on site, and some claim to be practitioners when they are not. There have been reported deaths of patients that have visited nurses at home having these procedures done, with the lack of regulation or knowledge of their existence, counterfeit or even construction grade products are being injected.
A Vaughan nurse has been charged with the death of a 23 year old patient after injecting unregulated substances. In another case, a 19 year old posed as “DR. Kitty" who claimed she was a Plastic Surgeon, offering cosmetic injectables from her home in Toronto. Both are sad examples of the dangers of home injectables, done illegally, where there is no regulation. The public and regulators should be most concerned with practitioners travel to patients homes or meet patients in hotels for such treatments. In another case a repeat offender from New Market advertised Botox, lip, buttock, and muscle augmentations online and arranged to meet clients in hotel rooms or at their homes.
Skin Worthy’s argument is that we can appreciate people have different budgets, and not all patients are a fit for for each practitioner. However surely Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto and in the GTA will have much more regulation, set standards, and responsibility to Health Canada than any so called home Practitioner. Shoppers will have a great setting for those who want a quick in and out service, that should be in a setting that has met Health Canada standards. Each patient has a preference in the approach of the clinic they choose. At Skin Worthy we value a collaboration with our patients, building a relationship, and finally education. We also agree that there are patients out there who may not want this approach and prefer something a little quicker, where they know what they want, and do not value the practitioners opinion. The one thing we feel we are similar to Shoppers Drug Mart in the offering of cosmetic procedures is the incorporation of them into everyday life and as a form of self care without stigma.
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