What could possibly go wrong with a ‘hydration’ clinic that promises to revitalise and replenish you by injecting hangover-curing electrolytes, anti-ageing infusions and other vaguely Boost Juice-sounding concoctions directly into your veins?
Well, at least one thing, apparently.
Per reports in the Sydney Morning Herald, NSW Health authorities have closed the Sydney branch of iv.me, a national chain of clinics, as they investigate how a patient ended up in St Vincent‘s emergency department after receiving an IV vitamin infusion there.
A NSW Health representative confirmed that, on February 16, a patient was admitted suffering “fever, abdominal pains and low blood pressure.” An investigation has been launched into the cause of her illness, and “discussions” are under way with the clinic.
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner recently expressed concern over the IV infusion craze, calling the health and medical benefits “dubious”, and adding that, for hygiene and infection control purposes, manufacturing standards must absolutely be “strict”.
Ken Harvey of the Pharmacy Board Of Australia recently made a formal complaint about iv.me, saying that the clinic’s claims are “likely to be false, misleading or deceptive, or create an unreasonable expectation of benefit.”
Harvey also slammed the iv.me website for failing to warn customers about the “possible health risks that can arise from too many vitamins and other substances contained in the fluids.”
Speaking to Fairfax, pharmacist and iv.me director Shadi Kazeme said that “as a precaution”, the clinic has changed the supplier of one particular ingredient that forms part of the IV infusions given to customers.
She said that, as the investigation into the Sydney clinic is ongoing, “there is no outcome and hence no conclusion”, but added that she foresees it reopening in the future. Her clinic in Melbourne’s South Yarra remains open.
Kazeme’s was the second IV hydration business to open in Sydney, after the Hangover Clinic – unrelated to iv.me – opened its doors in the city last December.
Source: Fairfax.
