Medical Spa Lawyers

Medical boards—in California and other states—as well as other prosecutorial authorities have stepped up enforcement activities against medical spas.

While most of our clients come to us for preventative advice, we have assisted clients who were raised by enforcement agents, on the weekend – and heard stories of computers being carted away, medical spas being shut down, and even of staff being handcuffed and told lay face-down on the floor.  Medical spas require legal advice and a compliance review as the regulatory environment can be treacherous.

In addition, medical spas can face liability risk from a variety of fronts.  One of our clients, for example, received a cease-and-desist letter from a former employer.  The demand letter from the attorney cited not only the usual misappropriation claims, but also alleged that our client had been operating illegally, including by engaging in the unlicensed practice of medicine.  Many medical spa owners are lured by the profitability of medical spa treatments and less than fully informed about the attendant legal and regulatory risks they have to monitor and manage.

There is no harm in seeking pampering or in wanting to look better. A visit to a spa may provide a needed respite from our stressful lives, and treatments that make us look better often make us feel better. The Medical Board, however, is concerned when medicine is being marketed like a pedicure, and consumers are led to believe that being injected, lasered, and resurfaced requires no more thought than changing hair color.

Medical treatments should be performed by medical professionals only. There is risk to any procedure, however minor, and consumers should be aware of those risks. While it is illegal for unlicensed personnel to provide these types of treatments, consumers should be aware that some persons and firms are operating illegally. Cosmetologists, while licensed professionals and highly qualified in superficial treatments such as facials and microdermabrasion, may never inject the skin, use lasers, or perform medical-level dermabrasion or skin peels. Those types of treatments must be performed by qualified medical personnel. In California, that means a physician, or a registered nurse or physician assistant under the supervision of a physician.

The medical board, in Bottom Line, also emphasizes issues of ownership and control of the medical spa business:

California law prohibits the corporate practice of medicine.  Laypersons or lay entities may not own any part of a medical practice. (Business & Professions Code Section 2400). Physicians must either own the practice, or must be employed or contracted by a physician-owned practice or a medical corporation.  (The majority of stock in a medical corporation must be owned by California licensed physicians, with no more than 49% owned by other licensed health care professionals, such as nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, etc.  No stock in a medical corporation may be owned by a lay-person. (Corporation Code Section 13401.5(a)) In an attempt to circumvent this legal prohibition, some creative business and management schemes have emerged that violate the law.  Businesses that provide management services, franchises or other models that result in any unlicensed person or entity influencing or making medical decisions are in violation of the law.

We understand the interlocking layers of law and levels of legal protection that can help lessen the prospect of enforcement dangers. Our med spa lawyers help clients—whether physicians or medical spa entrepreneurs—sort through their legal options so they can secure their intellectual property rights, make proper agreements, reduce the possibility of unnecessary investigation, and mitigate enforcement and liability risk in the medical spa enterprise.