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Unwanted Lawsuits Grow From Laser Hair Removal
The National Law Journal
September 02, 2009
The booming medical spa industry is suffering some aches and pains. The diagnosis? Malpractice lawsuits. The prognosis? Not so good.
Plaintiffs and defense attorneys alike say medi-spas, where the beauty-conscious go to lose their unwanted facial hair, acne scars and fine lines, are a new litigation hot spot as patients increasingly sue over spa treatments gone wrong. Laser hair removal in particular is triggering lawsuits, lawyers note, warning that even more litigation is on the horizon as the number of medical spas has soared.
"Oh, my gosh, [litigation] is going to be exploding in the next couple of years because of how frequent and often people are having these procedures done," said Thomas Boleky of Beutel Hurst Boleky, a personal injury firm in Chicago. "No one really regulates them. I think that's part of the problem."
According to the International SPA Association, which represents 3,200 spas globally, medical spas are the fastest growing segment of the spa industry and have quadrupled in numbers in recent years, from 471 in 2004 to 1,804 today. Unlike day spas, which specialize in services such as massages, facials and body wraps for relaxation, medical spas offer cosmetic procedures that often involve the use of medical devices, such as lasers.
While most states require that a doctor supervise such procedures, lawyers say it's not happening. Some states, including Florida, New York and Illinois, are considering legislation that would more tightly regulate medical spas. In the meantime, medi-spa claims are showing up on dockets around the country.
Boleky himself has two medi-spa malpractice suits in the pipeline and in recent years has settled a handful of similar cases, including that of a Chicago woman who in 2007 won a $100,000 settlement from the now-bankrupt Pure Med Spa over scarring on her neck caused by a laser treatment to remove age spots.
In Arizona, a woman on Aug. 11 sued Timeless Laser & Skin in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleging she was "severely burned and scarred" during laser hair removal. Also in Arizona state court, a man in April sued Neos Medspa over scarring, "extreme pain" and burning he allegedly suffered from laser hair removal on his back and shoulders. In North Carolina, a woman in January won a $500,000 judgment against a medical spa over a serious blood infection she allegedly developed from a procedure to reduce fat in her stomach.
The plaintiffs bar is "gaining steam" in targeting the medical spa industry, said Jill Goldsmith, managing partner of the Phoenix office of Bowman and Brooke, which is defending a handful of medi-spa lawsuits. She warned that worse days lie ahead.
"I believe we're seeing the beginning of this industry being targeted," Goldsmith said. "Both mom-and-pops and chain companies have sprung up around the country in the past few years, creating a new billion-dollar industry and litigation hot spot."
But medical spas can take immediate action to guard against litigation, said Goldsmith, who is alerting her clients to be extra cautious in fully disclosing risks to their patients and obtaining and documenting informed consent.
Goldsmith believes that people wrongly assume nothing will go wrong at a medi-spa. "They have perhaps unrealistic expectations and assume that going to a medical spa is risk-free, and it's not," she said. "No procedure is risk-free."
To "stay ahead of the litigation," medical spas need to go the extra mile in informing patients about possible risks, Goldsmith said. For example, when a potential patient comes in for a procedure, the spa should consider showing a video or pictures of the procedure and explain what could go wrong.
Lynne McNees, president of the International SPA Association, said in a statement that members of her group "adhere to a standards-and-practices agreement, as well as a code of conduct that lists the rights of spa-goers."
Patients, McNees suggested, should bear some responsibility when seeking treatments from a medical spa: "It is important to be an advocate for yourself and do your homework before visiting any spa."
