I-Team: Med Spa Patients Badly Hurt By Hair Removal, Botox Treatments

BOSTON (CBS) – You’ve probably seen the ads for laser hair removal, inexpensive Botox and chemical peels. More and more, these services are being done at medical spas instead of doctor’s offices. There are hundreds of med spas in Massachusetts and some people are sounding an alarm, saying as the industry grows, so do the numbers of injuries and lawsuits. Johanna Searles of Agawam still has scars from laser hair removal gone bad. “I kept saying ‘please, please stop. It’s burning,’” Searles told the I-Team of her visit to a med spa. Johanna won a voucher for the treatment. She said the facility looked so professional, she figured it must be safe. “It had a doctor’s name right on the door. She had told me it was under a doctor’s supervision. They all wore white coats,” she explained. Like many med spas, the name on the door belonged to a medical director who was rarely onsite. Med spas offer treatments using powerful lasers, as well as injectable like Botox or Juvederm. According to state law they are supposed to be licensed with the Department of Public Health as clinics unless they are fully owned and operated by a doctor or a nurse practitioner. According to state law these medical grade treatments are supposed to be done “under the supervision” of a nurse practitioner or doctor. But supervision is not clearly defined. State regulators say it could include a doctor being on site or just putting protocols in place. There are...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health i-Team Local News Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Lauren Leamanczyk med spas Source Type: news