Shoppers Drug Mart is injecting itself into the cosmetic dermatology industry with two new pilot stores planned for the Toronto area.
On Wednesday, the drugstore retailer announced it will open two new pilot stores called “Beauty Clinic by Shoppers Drug Mart,” which will offer a variety of cosmetic services and treatments, including cosmetic injections, dermal fillers, microdermabrasion, peels, and laser procedures.
“With our expertise in both the health and beauty business, offering cosmetic treatments feels like a natural step for us,” Shoppers Drug Mart’s Senior Vice President Rachel Huckle said in a press release. “Customers can go beyond the beauty counter to a truly holistic luxury beauty experience.”
Some of the offered services include, cosmetic injections ($10 per unit), volume restoration or lip enhancement fillers ($550 per syringe), medical grade peels ($150 per treatment), microdermabrasion ($100 per treatment), and laser skin renewal ($675 per treatment).
Shoppers Drug Mart customers will also be able to earn and redeem their PC Optimum points on a variety of services at the beauty clinics, according to the company.
Nurse practitioners will provide one-on-one consultations and administer the cosmetic treatments in the new stores, according to the drugstore.
“It’s important that treatments are done by trusted professionals,” Huckle said. “We know our customers and can provide a safe, high quality experience for them.”
One Toronto dermatologist, however, is expressing concern at the prospect of cosmetic dermatology services being performed without the presence of a doctor.
Dr. Paul Cohen, a dermatologist and owner of the Rosedale Dermatology Centre, said he has reservations about nurse practitioners working alone in clinics such as these.
“That’s quite scary,” Cohen told CTVnews.ca in an interview on Wednesday. “There are lots of talented nurse injectors who are supervised by a physician. I have nurses that work for me, but they’re supervised, they’re extremely experienced. If there’s a complication we’re there to help treat anything that might need to be fixed.”
Cohen also said laser treatments can be particularly risky if they’re operated by an inadequately trained individual.
“Everyone has different degrees of training and certainly lasers are sold to people who don’t have a lot of training,” he explained. “You can burn skin. You can cause scarring. Lasers can have consequences if they get into the wrong hands.”
The dermatologist said other complications from procedures such as Botox injections can result in droopy eyelids or asymmetry in the face. In more serious cases, Cohen said filler recipients can have necrosis of the tissue, in which the blood supply is cut off to the tissue, and a physician is urgently required.
“These procedures should not be taken lightly,” he said.
Catherine Thomas, the senior director of external communications for Shoppers Drug Mart, said that although a physician won’t be working from within the clinics, the company will continuously consult with doctors to develop standard operating procedures and to train employees.
“These are regulated services with strict protocols and procedures,” she said. “In Ontario, nurse practitioners have the training and the legal authority to prescribe and/or administer these procedures.”
Thomas said the nurse practitioners who will be working at Shoppers Drug Mart’s clinics have more than a decade of experience in emergency care, acute care, cardiology, cardiac surgery, and geriatric medicine.”
The first of the two pilot standalone stores is slated to open in Oakville, Ont., just west of Toronto, on Dec. 22 in the Shops on Dundas plaza. The second location is set to open in Toronto in the Shops at Don Mills plaza in 2019.
