Doctors must not prescribe Botox by phone, email, video-link or fax

We have published new guidance requiring doctors to have face-to-face consultations with patients before prescribing Botox and other injectable cosmetics.

Our existing guidance, which covers all forms of remote prescribing, says that doctors must adequately assess the patient’s condition before prescribing remotely and they must be confident they can justify the prescription. Where doctors cannot satisfy these conditions, they must not prescribe remotely.

The new guidance, which came into force on 23 July, introduces a complete prohibition on prescribing cosmetic injectables, such as Botox, without a physical examination of the patient. While remote prescribing of other treatments may be appropriate in some circumstances, doctors must consider the limitations of any electronic communication with their patient.

‘We recognise that patients can benefit from consultations with their doctor by email, phone, or video-link or fax and that is fine as long as it is done safely, but our new guidance makes clear that doctors must now not prescribe medicines such as Botox remotely,’ said Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the GMC.

‘These are not trivial interventions and we are clear that doctors should assess any patient in person before issuing a prescription of this kind. So while remote prescribing may be the right answer in many situations, this is not one of them.'

The new guidance on remote prescribing is part of wider updated guidance, Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices which we will publish later in the year.