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.

I've had these drips before. Not at Westfield though, I wouldn't want to be hooked up to a drip in the middle of a shopping center! I had one done before a party because I was feeling sick/crap and I felt so much better come the evening. They run pricey tho, about £100 for the cheapest option.

Bloody hell

Should add that I went to a proper clinic in London, and yes, it was done by an actual doctor.

I live in the States and IV drip places are everywhere, my DH has A coworker who have them come to his house when he’s jet lagged or hungover. Have not heard of getting them in full view at the Westfield though- tacky on sketchy sounds like.

Oh i saw a programme about a Vegas hotel and they had iv "girls " go to suites it was part of the butler service 😳

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

Of course nurses can have a say and are allowed to question what a doctor says, or refuse to administer treatment if it's incorrect or unnecessary!

My teenage hangovers were never as bad as my late 30’s ones. We should not be facilitating excess alcohol consumption on the nhs.

I was once involved in the care of a patient who narrowly avoided life-changing (life-limiting, in fact) sequelae as the result of one of these things (I'm a hospital doctor). For the record, the "wellness" concoction in question was prescribed by a private doctor.

Nobody who is not in genuine medical need (and I don't mean a hangover, fgs) should be receiving IVs. Nobody. I'm actually shocked to hear this happening in the middle of bloody Westfield though. What exactly do they plan to do if one of their customers goes into anaphylaxis? Or comes back five days with phlebitis?

Used to do this 30 years ago....it was common amongst soldiers who had to be on duty at 0600 and had been out till the early hours.

I am surprised that the getadrip company have NMC registered nurses working for them - have they not read the NMC code of conduct lately?
www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/read-the-code-online/#sixth

Specifically section 6

It's absolutely mental. You can turn anything into a crazy fad nowadays. Have had IVs while in hospital for various things. Never once found it even slightly relaxing! Would take a massage instead any day!

Giving IV fluids like this could surely cause an electrolyte imbalance if not monitored?
How clean is the area where IVs are put in?
What happens if the IV tissues? (Comes out of the vein into the surrounding tissues)?
Yanbu.

That anybody would want to sit on a drip in a shopping centre in full view is weird. I’ve seen celebs hooked up to a drip after partying too hard so I suppose it’s filtered down. I’m surprised it’s allowed.

I still haven't got my head last public grooming I shopping centres (treading) and teeth whitening. The IV bags for fun sound awful. Sorry if I offend anyone and know it's probably me being a bit old fashioned or something.

Eh? Wtf? Sounds awful at the best of times and certainly to my admittedly non scientific mind not the kind of thing that should be encouraged during a pandemic on a number of levels.

Typos...haven't got my head around public grooming

Madness.
Just been on one of the sites which boasts that this bypasses the liver, unlike eating normally when the liver gets involved and reduces vitamin uptake.

Somewhat surprised that we evolved with a complex liver that sits there meaning we get less nutrients than we need.

@Bagadverts which is absolutely the opposite. Not eating and relying on IV nutrition has the opposite effect. My daughter has had IV nutrition for 6 years and the main worry is that it effects your liver and they often try get small amount of food or enteral feeds ( milk ) to help protect the liver.

Honestly people, you need to move with the times................and stop being so snobby.

The idea that these are being administered by some idiot with no knowledge is an insult. What makes you think they don't employ medics ffs? Or that how could they possibly add the different vitamins? As if they are grabbing a bag out of a box on the floor.
There's a huge industry involved, you can pay over £300, they employ nurses of course. It's a bit bleeding obvious.

@fruitbrewhaha

Honestly people, you need to move with the times................and stop being so snobby.

The idea that these are being administered by some idiot with no knowledge is an insult. What makes you think they don't employ medics ffs? Or that how could they possibly add the different vitamins? As if they are grabbing a bag out of a box on the floor.
There's a huge industry involved, you can pay over £300, they employ nurses of course. It's a bit bleeding obvious.

There’s really nothing ‘snobby’ about being alarmed by seeing people undergoing, what’s usually a medical procedure that takes place when medically necessary in a healthcare environment, in a frigging shopping centre! Especially as the OPs daughter is a TPN patient whose life is sustained by a similar procedures at some discomfort to herself.

It might be ‘bleeding obvious’ to you that they employ nurses. But I, for one, am not used to seeing nurses go about their work in the shopping centre, preforming procured that are basically useless (unless it’s to relieve you of a hangover 🙄) on seemingly well ‘patients’. If I did see such a think it certainly wouldn’t immediately occurred to me that these people were nurses. Don’t get me wrong, it seems that they are apparently, but I wonder about the ethics of this, I really do.

@Captnip500 let’s not forget the scam element in this. So you purchase a IV drip and your asked what elements you want diff types of vitamins or you buy one that have already listed on the menu that they claim helps with so and so and have diff ones for diff reasons but the bottom line is if they have had bloods done to check what they are lacking and actually not lacking in those their body will basically just wee it out 🤣
I don’t have issue with the people being scoped in to purchasing it but I do have a problem with the ethics of the companies.

Also you can register to set up as it’s a franchise the ethical side of this is just I can’t even explain.
People say well it won’t effect the people who do need it... this is exactly what happened in America.
If you read the website they source their vitamins etc from pharmacies.
Home IV nutrition patients are all supplied with private health care / pharmacists with contracts with the NHS.
So the labs they are using etc are most likely over lap unless they have set up there own personal lab with personal staff that are able to this which I highly doubt.

Sounds like a scam and a perfect way to get a skin or blood bourne infection. Count me out!

I understand being shocked, being against it, thinking it's a terrible idea, and wanting it banned. But those who are saying they're offended are precious.