Quebec nurses take legal action for right to inject Botox

A group representing 200 nurses in Quebec who work in medical aesthetics are stepping up their fight against the Quebec College of Physicians.

The nurses have sent a lawyer’s letter stating they are furious about new rules that force patients to get a doctor’s prescription before receiving Botox injections starting May 1.

READ MORE: Nurses up in arms over losing the right to inject Botox without individual prescriptions

“We are demanding that the College suspend the new rules that abolish the collective prescriptions,” said Louise St-Aubin, president of the Regroupement des infirmiers et infirmières entrepreneurs du Québec (RIIEQ).

READ MORE: More and more millennials are getting Botox: Dermatologists

Currently, patients wanting Botox or other injectable products can see a dermatologist, plastic surgeon or registered nurse who has a collective prescription from a doctor.

The College changed the rules after discovering that some collective prescriptions were made by doctors who had no knowledge in the field.

“There was no control,” explained Dr. Charles Bernard, president of the Quebec College of Physicians.

“Nurses would ask some physicians who were not in that kind of practice to sign those prescriptions.”

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WATCH BELOW: No Botox injections by Quebec nurses

2:21 No Botox injections by Quebec nurses

The College’s decision also stems from a recent case where a physician pleaded guilty to accepting $10,000 for a collective prescription.

READ MORE: Not just for wrinkles: How Botox is helping ease migraine pain

“We can’t accept those kind of practices,” said Bernard in an interview last week.

The College won’t comment on the lawyer’s letter, but nurses are hoping it will be enough to buy them more time to reorganize their businesses.

READ MORE: Quebec budget 2017: Nurses’ union wants money for care, not doctor salaries

“They gave us only one month’s notice,” deplored St-Aubin.

“We find this disrespectful and ridiculous, we have employees to consider and investments.”

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The RIIEQ is meeting with Quebec health minister Gaétan Barrette Friday in the hopes he intervenes and suspends the College’s new rules.