AIBU to have been shocked of the selling of IV drips in our shopping centre.

[Trialanderror02]

Hi
bit of background my DD has intestinal failure, and so requires IV nutrition via a central line every day for 14 hours. This has landed us in many tricky dangerous situations over the years. Her IV nutrition bags are for fluids / vitamins / micro elements / metals / glucose. This bags are yellow fluid not usual IV saline bags.
We were shopping yesterday for pyjamas in Westfield’s and I was shocked to discover in a pop up seating area with IV stands and 2 women taking selfies attached to these exact looking IV bags, apparently this is a thing 🙈 I looked at the “ menu “ which literally looked like a cocktail bar menu. You could design you own IV bag by adding certain elements for more money etc.
Am I behind the times to be shocked about this casually being sold in the middle of a shopping centre ?
One of them is called a party drip.

@WhereverIGoddamnLike there’s been huge issues for some TPN patients this year in the uk before covid and now with covid hospitals are having to just supply fluids incase they can’t get tpn bags made up. I think more than the supply thing it’s more seeing the treatment that dominates someone’s life being used so casually and snapped for Instagram. Sadly in America a few years back these companies did get hold of IV vitamins for their rich clients during a shortage and patients became very unwell

It is vitamin B complex, I wouldn't have thought having an iv done in a shopping centre is very good, only needs an air bubble getting in the body for things to turn nasty. I do my own B12 injections but they are intramuscular.

@Jux sadly living purely on IV nutrition kills off the liver and shortens life spans so don’t think anyone will be choosing that any time soon but I’m sure there’s already rich people out there who just eat junk and try and use IV to top up their vitamin levels!

I have a very rich friend in another country who does this as part of his annual “health over haul”. Me, I’m lucky to remember to vit d down my neck in the winter.

@DaisyDreaming thank you for explaining that so much better than I did !

Also for what it’s worth I’m not even angry over the people having it I am more angry at the companies who are flogging something that for the best part is pointless and careless.

@Toddlerteaplease

We refuse to put teenagers who come in drunk on IV fluids as they don't wake up with a hangover. The doctors are more sympathetic than us mean nurses.

Do nurses have a say in what happens, then? If a doctor say they should have fluids, are you actually refusing to do it?

Because they are being prescribed by doctors

I don’t understand this. How can a doctor prescribe something without knowing the needs and history of their patients?

It isn’t the same as going to Boots and buying multivitamins or is it?

@Thismustbelove

Because they are being prescribed by doctors

I don’t understand this. How can a doctor prescribe something without knowing the needs and history of their patients?

It isn’t the same as going to Boots and buying multivitamins or is it?

The website says that the staff are all doctors and nurses.

@Trialanderror02

Also for what it’s worth I’m not even angry over the people having it I am more angry at the companies who are flogging something that for the best part is pointless and careless.

Absolutely. I can see how people get suckered in to this kind of thing.

Hmm Interesting about the staff as we walked past this 4 times yesterday and it was one member of staff manning the station ? Is their saline etc in the bags as do then it need to be double checked ?
How do the doctors decide who needs what ?

What’s shocking about it? Yes it’s a little stupid as there is no medical evidence that they work, and it’s just a fad, but shocking?

I've heard of these but I didn't know they were being used to facilitate alcohol abuse. I thought it was just a crank health thing.

That's shocking. My son has medical problems too and I would be offended if any of his treatments were available from non medical people in a shopping centre

Appalled by this too. An unsanitary environment, intra veinous needles, encouraging an unhealthy lifestyle and a quick fix, all during a sodding pandemic!!! So many things wrong and quite frankly dystopian about this.

its weird i dont know how its allowed i woldnt let anyone stick any needle in me that wasnt medically qualifed

what if something goes wrong

The Dragon's Den pitch for this kind of thing didn't go down well at all. All of the Dragons disapproved of such things (as far as I remember).

Very common in the US and Canada.
But not normally in the middle of a shopping centre!!

On a personnal level, I would be worried about the quality of the stuff tbh

I find this hugely iffy. How would you know what level of quality control is behind what is in the bags? What if there's a manufacturing error or contamination, and that's then put straight into a vein?
Mega doses of certain vitamins can also cause problems, eg B6.
And yes finally a lovely infection risk from having someone untrained stick a needle in you in the middle of a shopping centre.

FWIW I’ve also come across vitB12 injections given by beauty therapists... No doctors involved at all...

I can see the interest in those actually. But not done that way

@MaxNormal exactly there is protocols in hospitals for a reason - batch numbers, fluid charts etc
Double checking
Who is liable here for the risks so many questions 🤣
I am tempted to go back and query as a potential customer haha

@Toddlerteaplease

We refuse to put teenagers who come in drunk on IV fluids as they don't wake up with a hangover. The doctors are more sympathetic than us mean nurses.

Since when is it up to nurses who needs fluids and who doesn’t?

That’s shocking iv drips shouldn’t used unless medically needed.

Just talking to my partner who works in health care regulation. He said this is something which is likely to be reviewed for regulation soon. Would have been before now but then covid happened.

Apperently something counts as a medical procedures if it claims to treat injury or disease. So the claim to treat hangovers for example would fall under this. Or so his employing organisation wants to claim.

So its probably allowed to happen in the middle of shopping centres administered by non medical staff because for now it's not regulated.

Well I'm also shocked. Shocked that anyone would let anyone other than a medical professional insert an iv catheter into their veins in a non clinical environment. Nurses use aseptic techniques and also fluids are required to be kept at a certain temperature which should be recorded regularly otherwise the contents can be spoiled. Just take a bloody berroca if you've got a hangover. Unbelievable the crap that people buy into.