I used a different plastic surgeon for my last Botox. After the injection looked at the tray.. the vial said single patient use.. 50u.. I received 11u, empty vial. He said they use 1 new vial every 24h, swab it with alcohol between pts. Is this standard practice? I keep thinking of the ED in Vegas where multiple pts got Hep C from lidocaine vials. If 1 provider isn't being careful.. I could have been exposed. I'm an ED nurse by profession.. so I'm familiar with protocol. Is this normal?
April 26, 2017
Answer: Botox Vials Botox vials comes in different sizes. The usual size purchased by Doctors Offices is the 100 unit bottle, although if the clinic isn't using it regularly, they may be purchasing the 50 unit size. Even with the smallest size, most patients wouldn't use the entire vial. This would produce an incredible amount of waste and that cost would be passed on to the patient. It is truly more cost effective to use the vials for more than one patient so that the cost could be "shared." If the physician you are seeing uses good sterile technique and changes needle and syringes between withdrawals of the Botox, you are completely safe "sharing" that vial. I hope that helps! Regards, Dr. DiPasquale
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April 26, 2017
Answer: Botox Vials Botox vials comes in different sizes. The usual size purchased by Doctors Offices is the 100 unit bottle, although if the clinic isn't using it regularly, they may be purchasing the 50 unit size. Even with the smallest size, most patients wouldn't use the entire vial. This would produce an incredible amount of waste and that cost would be passed on to the patient. It is truly more cost effective to use the vials for more than one patient so that the cost could be "shared." If the physician you are seeing uses good sterile technique and changes needle and syringes between withdrawals of the Botox, you are completely safe "sharing" that vial. I hope that helps! Regards, Dr. DiPasquale
Helpful 1 person found this helpful
April 25, 2017
Answer: Botox Vials Thank you for your question. You're absolutely correct - according to the FDA, individual vials of Botox are for single patient use. That said, the smallest vials of Botox contain 50 units, and the ones most commonly available for purchase contain 100 units. If the vials were only used on single patients, and every patient was forced to purchase a full 100 units of Botox every time they came in, the cost of treatments would be prohibitive for most patients. In practice, 100 units is enough Botox to perform full treatments on at least 2-3 patients. As a result, it's not uncommon for physicians to treat multiple patients from a single vial of product, using new needles and syringes to draw up the Botox each time, under sterile technique.
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April 25, 2017
Answer: Botox Vials Thank you for your question. You're absolutely correct - according to the FDA, individual vials of Botox are for single patient use. That said, the smallest vials of Botox contain 50 units, and the ones most commonly available for purchase contain 100 units. If the vials were only used on single patients, and every patient was forced to purchase a full 100 units of Botox every time they came in, the cost of treatments would be prohibitive for most patients. In practice, 100 units is enough Botox to perform full treatments on at least 2-3 patients. As a result, it's not uncommon for physicians to treat multiple patients from a single vial of product, using new needles and syringes to draw up the Botox each time, under sterile technique.
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