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It's high time for Botox detox
After punching out at his practice,
this MD moonlights as a quack-buster
By Marcello Palmieri
"Were we born with a Botox deficiency?"
jokes Dr Terry Polevoy, a pediatrician in Kitchener,
ON, who's been running an acne clinic for the past 12
years. After seeing so much hype about wrinkle ironing
therapy and the growing number of docs raking in oodles
of money, as he likes to put it, Dr Polevoy says, "These
doctors should have evaluations done for their ethics."
According to Dr Polevoy, one such doctor overdue for
a checkup is Dr Mark Baily, a family physician who does
only Botox treatments. "Once you get a license to practise
medicine, you can practically do what you want," Dr
Polevoy says.
In an article that appeared in
our April 15 issue, we profiled Dr Baily's use of Botox
to treat patients as well as teach the therapy to other
doctors. This didn't sit too well with Dr Polevoy. "I
was shocked at the cavalier attitude MDs have toward
Botox." He says, adding that, "Doctors aren't allowed
to endorse products!"
Dr Polevoy argues that doctors
offering the therapy are simply getting patients hooked
on the Botox look. "They have to come back for the injections
every three months or so, and for what? So they could
look good at the office?" he asks. What he finds truly
incredible is that those patients who really need to
see their family physician will probably have to wait
even longer periods because the docs are setting time
aside to do Botox.
THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
The whole issue is clearly a
major bugbear to the doctor. On May 16 Dr Polevoy went
so far as to attend the New You Show at the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre, to check out the latest on Botox and
laser resurfacing treatments and the like. What he found
was surprising even to a sceptic like himself. He visited
booths where the staff didn't even know who they were
working for, and discovered health professionals who were
providing information that was potentially harmful to
patients. As he walked through the crowd, mostly filled
with young beautiful women to promote the products, he
noticed something interesting. At one of the booths, a
doc says that he'd never inject Botox into the neck area
because of the potential health risks. But just a few
booths down, another physician tells the eager listeners
that Botox is safe in the neck area. So the obvious question
is: which doctor's right? To find out, Dr Polevoy patiently
waits for one of the docs' Q&A sessions and asks:
"One doctor says it's safe and another says it's not.
So which is it?" Before he can answer, another physician
steps in and advises Dr Polevoy to treat the presenters
with respect and sit down. "I was only asking a valid
question," Dr Polevoy replied, unfazed.
"WHY,
I OUGHTA..."
Dr Polevoy has complained to the College of Physicians
over the years about the unethical practices taking
place in the medical community. Yet the issue of Botox
doesn't seem to be much of a priority with them � which
Dr Polevoy would definitely like to see change. "The
College of Physicians is too busy dealing with doctors
who've injured their patients, so the issue with Botox
seems to be at the bottom of the list," he says.
While Dr Polevoy is steadfastly
against docs who blindly hop on the Botox bandwagon,
his goal isn't to single out individual physicians.
It's the unethical marketing that really raises his
ire. "Why do we have to have large companies pushing
their products to the limit?" he asks.
Aside from his practice, Dr Polevoy
spends about an hour or two every day running his various
websites that aim to expose quackery, ranging from scientifically
groundless 'miracle' cancer treatments, to holistic
doctors who claim to cure what the medical community
cannot. "It just makes me angry to see people being
taken advantage of," he says.
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