Dr. Michael Gold answers the question, Should I be offering cosmeceuticals?, talks ethics, and shares his winning approach to in-office dispensing.
Michael Gold, MD, FAAD, is Medical Director of Gold Skin Care Center and Tennessee Clinical Research Center, Nashville, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, Vanderbilt University.
“The answer is yes. I think that there’s a huge upside to dispensing,” said Michael Gold, MD, who presented, “Should I Be Offering Cosmeceuticals?” at the 2021 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference®.
“I’ve been selling cosmeceuticals since 1989, so obviously I think it’s important.”
Dermatologist-dispensed skincare has an advantage where department stores, drugstores, and online retailers fall short, said Dr. Gold.
By offering cosmeceuticals in the office, “…you can design the regimen… and can choose the right product for the right indication.”
At the same time, Dr. Gold emphasized, there are ethical considerations for the dermatology practice that sells cosmeceuticals.
“We all get people that come to our offices and [say], ‘I went to the dermatologist and this is what they sold me,’ and they have a shopping bag… filled with 80 products.”
Even worse, they are at a loss for how to use them, he said.
“They were just told that these are the products they have to use because that’s what’s going to make them better. That philosophy and I don’t get along very well.”
Dr. Gold said the approach in his office is to make specific product recommendations, sample products for indecisive patients, and keep the regimens simple.
“We don’t ram anything down anybody’s throat. That’s not my philosophy.”
In fact, said Dr. Gold, he has a slide he includes in every cosmeceutical presentation that reads, “Be ethical. Be ethical. Be ethical,” to drive home the message.
“I’ve had that on my slides for years and years and years because I think that there’s a part of you that wants everybody to buy everything in your store or your ecommerce site, and the reality is you’ve got to work individually and individualize everything that we have. And that’s really important.”
Dr. Gold said he sells or has sold nearly every skincare brand, including a couple you might be surprised by—Cetaphil and Cera-Ve.
“I am not interested in [patients] going to the to the drugstore or the grocery store to purchase skincare products. I want them to get it because we pick this product for you. We keep those actually on our medical side, whereas the cosmeceuticals are in our spa retail side.”
He also has private label product lines, which allow him to customize ingredients while reinforcing his practice brand. Even more novel than selling cosmeceuticals, Dr. Gold said, he has prescription branded products.
“We purchase and put our own prescription label on… compounded, but fully FDA-approved prescription products for women’s hair loss, for men’s hair loss, for acne.”
In this way, Dr. Gold ensures patients leave the practice with prescription product in hand.
“There’s a huge upside to dispensing if you keep it real and if you keep it honest and are not forcing people to do things that they’re not wanting to do. Those kinds of things I think play an important role in how I approach the market.”
