A doctor has been found in breach of the patient’s rights code after instructing his disqualified clinic manager to undertake a botox treatment. Photo / 123rf
Hours after her first Botox treatment, a woman was left with a pounding heart, sensations similar to an “electrical surge” in her extremities and “a body that felt like it was on fire.”
But while she was likely to respond to the wrinkle prevention treatment, the new patient had no idea what to expect.
The procedure was carried out by a clinic manager who had never registered as a nurse in New Zealand and had not warned her patient about the potential side effects of the drug.
In a ruling released today by the Health and Disability Deputy Commissioner (HDC), the clinic manager’s boss, a doctor who owned the clinic, was found to be in breach of the patients’ rights code after instructing that clinic manager to take over treatment.
The name of the doctor, the clinic manager and the name of the clinic are not detailed in the decision.
The woman was called in for a botox treatment along with two friends in September 2020. The clinic’s doctor, who usually performed the cosmetic treatment, was absent that day.
The clinic manager initially thought the patient was observing her two friends, who were returning patients. When she found out the woman was going to undergo botox treatment herself, she called her boss who told her to go ahead with the treatment.
The patient signed a consent form, as did the clinic manager who signed the form as “physician”. She was then injected with 30 units of botox.
He later told HDC that there was no discussion of potential risks or side effects prior to treatment. The clinic manager accepted that this advice was omitted before the patient was injected.
A few minutes after her treatment, the woman noticed blood near the injection site.
The next day she felt tired and by 10pm that night she had a rapid pulse, a feeling of dread, shaking and sweating and felt like her body was ‘on fire’. She also spoke of the pain feeling like “electrical surges” in her extremities.
She returned to the clinic, this time seeing the doctor, who found her to be clinically stable. The doctor recorded that she had a “mild reaction” to the botox, with “severe anxiety overlaid”.
More than a month after treatment, the woman said she continued to experience side effects such as vertigo and a brief inability to swallow.
The manager of the clinic that undertook the treatment later told HDC that she had been placed in “such a compromised and vulnerable position” by her boss. He apologized to the patient.
As a result, Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Deborah James did not find the clinic manager breached the code, but was critical of her signing the consent form as a “doctor” and not providing sufficient information to the patient.
But James found the doctor, who owned the clinic, breached the code after asking his unqualified member of staff to complete the treatment and failing to ensure the patient was told about potential side effects.
James also said it appears the doctor had asked the disqualified clinic manager to help with botox for other patients in the past.
The doctor has since stopped his practice and the manager has left the clinic.
Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationally for Open Justice. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.
