As procedures like exosome therapy become more popular, they draw attention to the potential threat to consumer health posed in some Florida med spas. In their rush to obtain the newest, buzziest treatments, customers may be injected with unapproved, mislabeled or even outright toxic substances.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has explicitly warned that some of these products, like exosomes, can cause serious harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople assume that because these treatments are advertised on a website or Instagram, they must be safe,\u201d said Dr. Carlos Wolf, a Miami plastic surgeon. \u201cThat\u2019s not always the case. When you inject something directly into your body that hasn\u2019t been tested or approved, you\u2019re taking on risks you may not realize.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most common med spa cosmetic injections \u2014 Botox and dermal fillers \u2014 are FDA-approved, meaning the federal agency has determined, through clinical trials, that they are safe and effective for their intended use.<\/p>\n
The offerings at Florida med spas, though, often venture beyond Botox and filler injections.<\/p>\n
Customers allow med-spa providers to inject them with everything from salmon sperm to super-concentrated serums of growth factors, despite the risk of serious side effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople increasingly have become obsessed with their looks,\u201d said a Boca Raton med spa worker who asked not to be identified by name. \u201cThey only care how big their lips are or how glowy their skin is or how they can use filler to minimize the bump on their nose. They care about results, not necessarily the risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the last couple of years in Florida, there have been some serious incidents: a woman blinded by a cosmetic injection, another left with facial paralysis, several hospitalizations linked to counterfeit Botox, and the death of a young woman after receiving an IV drip. A Miami woman injected with DNA fragments from salmon sperm sued a local med spa in February 2025, claiming to have been \u201cirreversibly deformed\u201d by the injection.<\/p>\n
Florida dermatologist Andrew Miner advises consumers not to assume that all injected products have proven safety studies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen lots of substances injected into people that should never be injected into a human,\u201d said Miner, with Brevard Skin & Cancer Center and president of the Florida Academy of Dermatology<\/a>. \u201cWhat people don\u2019t realize is a lot of those substances will travel widely throughout the body.\u201d<\/p>\n Med spas unmasked: Lack of oversight puts customers at risk<\/a><\/p>\n Look no further than Instagram to understand how a stream of glamorous before-and-after photos creates demand for med-spa treatments. Even women in their 20s are going to med spas for preventive care.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is doing these cosmetic procedures, and once you start, it becomes insatiable,\u201d said Christine Martinez, a Miami med spa customer. \u201cYou start getting injections, and you don\u2019t really stop to think, \u2018What are we doing to ourselves?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n All you need to get a cosmetic injection in Florida is money and a signature on a consent form \u2014 regardless of how risky the treatment might be. That signature, along with a verbal discussion of risks, generally protects the provider from legal liability if the patient experiences a disclosed risk and the procedure was performed correctly by a health care provider.<\/p>\n That waiver applies even when a treatment is unproven or off-label.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether a treatment can be legally offered doesn\u2019t turn on whether the patient is told it isn\u2019t FDA-approved,\u201d said Tabitha Taylor, a med-spa attorney with Bryant Taylor Law in Plantation. \u201cThe key question is whether the product itself is legally permitted to be marketed or administered under federal and state law.\u201d<\/p>\n In Florida, med spa regulation is complex. No single agency has sole authority or responsibility, although Florida\u2019s Department of Health<\/a> pursues complaints against med-spa workers, usually after someone is injured or law enforcement gets involved.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no oversight,\u201d said Thomas Graham, a South Florida personal injury attorney who represents people harmed at Florida med spas.\u00a0 \u201cThey can buy these products that are unsafe, untested, bring them in and market them to people who don\u2019t have the background to understand why it might be dangerous. If something really bad happens, they are given a slap on the wrist.\u201d<\/p>\n Thus far, attempts to regulate the industry in Florida through legislation have failed.<\/p>\n Looking to get rid of love handles or flabby thighs? A quick Google search in Florida for \u201cmed spas near you\u201d returns dozens that offer lipodissolve injections to break down fat cells.<\/p>\n The marketing pitch for fat dissolvers is simple: Get a sculpted look without surgery. The risks, though, include uneven lumps or damaged tissue, open sores and permanent scarring.<\/p>\n Med spas in Miami, West Palm Beach, Tampa and Orlando are among dozens across the state that offer the trendy Lemon Bottle fat dissolver shots. They tout the treatment as an \u201cinstant\u201d and \u201cpainless\u201d fat-dissolving solution, and an alternative to liposuction.<\/p>\n On its Instagram page, Lemon Bottle, made in South Korea, says its product is \u201ccompletely safe,\u201d has \u201cno side effects,\u201d and delivers \u201cinstant results.\u201d The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says differently<\/a>. It does not approve or endorse Lemon Bottle shots, classifies them as unapproved drugs, and warns that they carry significant and unknown risks.<\/p>\n A surge in reports of safety issues linked to Lemon Bottle has sparked international concern. Save Face<\/a>, a UK-based organization that accredits medical aesthetics practitioners and investigates complaints, has received 210 complaints about Lemon Bottle over the last two years. These include claims that customers were left with uneven results, saw no results at all, or suffered prolonged bruising, swelling, infections, abscesses and even necrosis (the death of body tissue).<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no data about how safe or effective these treatments are or what potential complications could arise as a result,\u201d Ashton Collins, director of Save Face, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. \u201cWe have had reports of ladies experiencing huge lumps at each injection site. They could be on the stomach, the thighs, the neck, or the chin area \u2026 in very visible places.\u201d<\/p>\n South Florida resident Carmen Hernandez says she visited a Miami med spa for Lemon Bottle injections to reduce the loose fat on her upper arm. She said the experience was life-changing \u2014 although not in the way she had wanted.\u00a0 \u201cInstead, I got months of pain, and I still have scars,\u201d she told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n Capitalizing on the strong desire for weight loss, many Florida med spas are offering untested or unregulated fat-dissolving injectables to eliminate fat in \u201cproblem areas\u201d such as the chin, legs, waist, upper arms and abdomen.<\/p>\n Only Kybella<\/a> is FDA-approved \u2014 and only for use under the chin. Yet dozens of\u00a0 Florida med spas offer various lipodissolve treatments \u2014 including Kybella \u2014 for many parts of the body, according to their websites and social media accounts.<\/p>\n On its website, a Miami-area med spa offers patients lipodissolver injected into their chin, abdomen, thighs, upper arms, and flanks \u2014 \u00a0a procedure the promotional offer says takes only 20 to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n While convenient, these injections can also be harmful.<\/p>\n In December 2023, the FDA issued a warning<\/a> about the dangers of fat-dissolving injections after many reports of severe side effects, including permanent scars, serious infections, skin deformities, cysts, and deep, painful knots. The warning included disturbing photos of a woman who received lipodissolve treatments and sustained multiple red, infected knots at the injection sites on her upper arm.<\/p>\n In Central Florida, a med spa promotes fat-dissolving treatments, including Kybella and PCDC<\/a> (lipodissolve), to reduce bra fat, upper arms, love handles and thighs. Neither is FDA-approved<\/a> for this use, and the federal agency has said they pose significant risks.<\/p>\n Yet the med spa\u2019s website indicates otherwise. \u201cBoth PCDC Liquid Lipo and Kybella are safe, FDA-approved treatments. Phosphatidylcholine and deoxycholic acid are naturally occurring substances in the body, making them well-tolerated by the majority of our patients,\u201d the website reads.<\/p>\n Dr. Joshua Lampert, a South Florida plastic surgeon, said there are concerns about injecting fat dissolvers into various body parts and even using Kybella in ways it wasn\u2019t intended.<\/p>\n \u201cKybella is approved for injection into the chin, which is a smaller area. But if someone is injecting into a larger area, they are giving a larger dose, and that\u2019s guesswork,\u201d Lampert said.<\/p>\n Where fat dissolvers are injected can also cause harm.<\/p>\n Kate Dee, author of \u201cMedSpa Mayhem: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Secrets of the Aesthetic Industry,\u201d told the Sun Sentinel about the risk of hitting or damaging a nerve when administering a fat-dissolving injection. \u201cSome nerves are coated with fat,\u201d explained Dee, who owns Glow Medispa in Seattle. \u201cIf you inject the fat dissolver near a nerve, you can temporarily or permanently damage the nerve.\u201d<\/p>\n Regenerative treatments, anti-aging injections<\/p>\n The newest injection treatments drawing customers to Florida med spas may also be the riskiest. These fall into categories like anti-aging and regenerative treatments.<\/p>\n Exosomes: A Broward County med spa calls its exosome treatment \u201ca cutting-edge cellular skin regeneration treatment that restores skin health from the inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n Other med spas across the state make similar claims. But the FDA has not approved any exosome products for injection, IV treatment or topical use with microneedling.<\/p>\n The agency has issued consumer alerts<\/a> stating that its true efficacy and safety are unknown. There have been cases of serious infections from contaminated exosome injections.<\/p>\n Safety concerns have also put exosomes on Save Face\u2019s radar in the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cThe concern is that there is a black-market trade of human-derived exosomes and obviously, with that, you have the risk of blood-borne viruses and all sorts of contaminations being passed through the skin,\u201d Collins at Save Face, the UK accreditor for aesthetic practitioners, told the Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n Save Face\u2019s website advises, \u201cChoosing a skilled practitioner who uses high-quality, clinically tested exosome products enhances the safety and effectiveness of treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n Med spas unmasked: Can you trust the hand that holds the needle?<\/a><\/p>\n PDGF: Marketed as a next-generation treatment at Florida med spas, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor injectables mimic the growth factor found in humans but are manufactured in a lab. The FDA has approved certain PDGF drugs for clinical \u201ctopical use only\u201d so any med spa that injects it is doing so outside of the manufacturer\u2019s labeling.\u00a0 There is no data on safety when it\u2019s injected into the under-eye area or the scalp.<\/p>\n The lead manufacturer of PDGF has cautioned that injecting PDGF too superficially at high concentrations or in delicate areas may potentially cause localized collagen nodules, transient swelling, or discoloration. Yet some med-spa providers are doing so, according to their websites.<\/p>\n Louiza Tarassova, an Orlando attorney who represents people harmed at med spas, said one of her clients had a temporary loss of vision and permanent scars, pain, and bags under her eyes after being injected with PDGF at a Florida med spa.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an over-the-counter, non-FDA-approved product that a bunch of these injectors are getting directly from the manufacturer,\u201d Tarassova said. \u201cIt comes in a syringe and apparently, on the syringe, it says do not inject because it\u2019s not FDA-approved, but they\u2019ve been injecting it into people.\u201d<\/p>\n Tarassova said an additional risk is that when unproven injectables cause a reaction, even licensed doctors often don\u2019t know how to respond.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem with the med spa industry is it\u2019s so lucrative and it\u2019s a cash business and it\u2019s all about what\u2019s the latest product that we can sell to our customers, but they\u2019re forgetting that they\u2019re practicing medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n Touted as an energy booster, anti-aging solution, and even a brain enhancer, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide costs as little as $50 to $75 a shot.<\/p>\n However, the FDA has not approved NAD+ injections for anti-aging.<\/p>\n While NAD+ treatments are marketed at med spas as a way to support \u201clongevity,\u201d there is no medical evidence to support this claim, according to federal regulators. The potential serious risks of NAD+ injections include infections at the injection site, nerve damage, and unpredictable side effects such as nausea, rapid heartbeat, chills and vomiting, federal regulators say.<\/p>\n Several med spa customers have detailed their experience with an NAD+ injection on social media. One writes on Reddit.com<\/a> of a rapid surge in his heart rate that landed him in the Emergency Room and took about a week to normalize. Another writes of a similar reaction, calling it terrifying.<\/p>\n Aware that med spas are giving out NAD+, and even using compounded product,\u00a0 the FDA issued a warning:<\/p>\n \u201cFDA has received adverse event reports following use of NAD+ injectable drugs, including severe chills, shaking, vomiting and fatigue with some requiring medical treatment. These reactions are consistent with excessive levels of endotoxins.\u201d<\/p>\n Peptides: Peptide therapies have exploded in popularity at Florida med spas, touted for their benefits in healing and longevity. A Pompano Beach med spa promotes peptide injections for improved energy, while an Orlando med spa touts peptide therapy for firmer skin.<\/p>\n However, the FDA has expressed safety concerns and notes that there is no way to know the right dosage, purity, potential contaminants and impact of long-term use of some peptides.<\/p>\n The federal agency said unapproved peptides tend to come from pharmacies that mix or compound ingredients and cited risks such as potential immune reactions or manufacturing impurities. Many of the products have never been extensively studied in humans, raising concerns about insufficient human safety data and the potential for serious side effects. The FDA has created a list of more than two dozen peptides that should not be compounded and used by providers due to safety concerns. A few med spas and wellness clinics have pushed back against the FDA\u2019s stance on peptides, calling it an overstep.<\/p>\n However, if the vial says \u201cnot for human consumption,\u201d or \u201cfor research use only,\u201d it is illegal<\/a> for a Florida provider to inject it into a customer outside of a study.<\/p>\n But Florida healthcare attorney Jeff Cohen likens enforcement of the law to exceeding the speed limit, with violators rarely being pulled over. \u201cThe speed limit may be 65, but everyone is doing 75.\u201d<\/p>\n Counterfeit and diluted product<\/p>\n Every year, thousands of Floridians seek Botox injections to reduce wrinkles, some buying services for below-market prices, unaware that the products are fake, expired or diluted versions of the cosmetic treatment.<\/p>\n As a result, what may seem like a routine beauty treatment \u2014 a few Botox injections \u2014 has left some patients with slurred speech, droopy eyelids and even breathing difficulties requiring respiratory support.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients don\u2019t really know what part of the world these med spas are bringing products in from and whether they are diluting it before injecting,\u201d said Wolf, the Miami plastic surgeon.<\/p>\n In spring 2024, dozens of people in nine states, including Florida, became sick and even hospitalized from reactions to fake Botox they received at med spas \u2014 triggering a Centers for Disease Control & Prevention investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the price is incredibly low, that\u2019s a red flag,\u201d said Dr. Sean McNally, a plastic surgeon who consults for medical boards.<\/p>\n Martinez, the Miami med spa customer, said she learned this through experience. She wanted Botox but found the prices charged by dermatologists and plastic surgeons to be outside her budget. So she searched Instagram and found a med spa deal. She now questions the product\u2019s authenticity.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I got duped,\u201d she said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t last long.\u201d<\/p>\n In the last two years, med spa workers in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Jacksonville and Hallandale Beach have been arrested for practicing medicine without a license and for injecting patients with unknown substances after the products they were injecting led to injuries. None of the criminal cases has gone to trial yet.<\/p>\n Only weeks ago, on Feb. 19, a worker at a Brickell med spa was arrested by the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office and accused of administering Botox injections without a license. Investigators determined the woman was using an injectable called Toxa, an unapproved Botox alternative imported from South Korea. She had been advertising her business on Instagram.<\/p>\n Experts recommend that med spa customers look for branded product brochures. They also suggest asking to see the vial and the product\u2019s box before receiving a cosmetic injection \u2014 and question any pricing deal that sounds too good to be true.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they already have it drawn up in an unmarked syringe on a table, that\u2019s not okay,\u201d McNally said.<\/p>\n IV drip<\/p>\n Beyond injectables, med spas are increasingly jumping on the broader wellness culture, offering intravenous drips.<\/p>\n South Florida\u2019s Nicole Prol says she regularly gets immunity-boosting IV drips at med spas. \u201cYou choose all the add-ons you want to put in,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n For $175 to $250 and 20 to 40 minutes of her time, she usually gets energized from a multivitamin drip, she said. However, she has found that not all med spas selling IV drips offer the same quality. \u201cAt some places, I have gotten no effect from them.\u201d<\/p>\n Among Florida\u2019s youth-oriented, sun-worshipping residents, IV infusions have surged in popularity.\u00a0 These drips are positioned as a fast-track solution for everything from curing hangovers and boosting energy to improving skin clarity and strengthening the immune system.<\/p>\n Using catchy names like Skinny Drip, Athlete Drip or even Million Dollar Glow IV Drip, high doses of vitamins, minerals and other compounds are infused directly into the customer\u2019s bloodstream.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that patients usually feel good after doing an IV treatment,\u201d said Jennifer Martinez, a physician assistant and co-owner of SkinLocal, which operates four\u00a0 Florida med spa locations. \u201cThey feel more hydrated. They can feel some more energy. I do think there\u2019s a benefit to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Doctors and scientists, though, are raising serious flags about the potential danger of IV drips for wellness. The risk includes everything from vein irritation to infection, to toxicity from fluid overload to complications from a lack of medical history screening.<\/p>\n Some infusions can be dangerous for individuals with heart disease and kidney problems, whose bodies are not capable of processing the salts and fluids rapidly added to the body.<\/p>\n Med spas and IV drip bars are supposed to ask customers to fill out a medical questionnaire, according to Florida health officials.<\/p>\n Dr. David Seres, director of Medical Nutrition and professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, said no one needs an IV infusion unless they have a medically diagnosed deficiency.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, most of the people who are giving these kinds of treatments have a sense of what the toxic extremes are and know enough to avoid them,\u201d Seres said.<\/p>\n Stephanie Balais, an aspiring South Florida nursing student, died in 2018 at age 25 after receiving a lethal dose of the mineral selenium as an IV treatment for immune support.<\/p>\n The nursing student\u2019s death prompted a political push in 2023 to pass a Florida law to create new safety requirements for giving IV wellness treatments. The proposed law, however, did not pass and has not been reintroduced. Lobbyist Chris Nuland says the proposed law was drafted so broadly that it would have affected medically necessary treatments like IV for chemotherapy as well as the med spas and drip bars it was intended to regulate. He said the proposed law \u201cdied of its own weight.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to toxic dosages, concerns with IV drips include infection. The FDA has warned that some med spas and IV hydration clinics improperly sterilize IV equipment. The danger is that bacteria can enter the bloodstream through the IV site.<\/p>\n Dr. Shasa Hu, a dermatologist and director of the cosmetic division at the University of Miami, said she considers this a serious concern. Anytime the skin is broken, there is a risk of introducing bacteria into the bloodstream, which can lead to a severe infection, she explained.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we know what is being given intravenously is not contaminated with bacteria? How do we know the handling procedure is up to the good clinical practice standard?\u201d she said. \u201cThose are questions customers should be asking because you\u2019re paying someone and putting stuff in your body.\u201d<\/p>\n Martinez, co-owner of SkinLocal Med Spa in South Florida, wants to see stricter ownership requirements. In New York, California and Texas, physicians or licensed medical professionals must own all or the majority of a med spa. In Florida, anyone can own a med spa or drip bar.\u00a0 \u201cIt would be nice if Florida could eventually pass a law that IV drip bars or even med spas should be owned by a medical provider, not just a business owner,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She explained: \u201cA business owner can say, \u2018Let\u2019s use less of this product because I\u2019m cutting costs,\u2019 and they can be looking at more of the profit part of it and it really should be what we need to do for the patient first.\u201d<\/p>\n Med spas unmasked: The risks of injectables<\/a><\/p>\n Dangerous injectors, infusors and laser technicians<\/p>\n In addition to substances being problematic, the person delivering the injections can cause harm.<\/p>\n \u201cA big issue with fillers is if they\u2019re injecting into an area that has blood vessels nearby, and if they\u2019re not using an appropriate technique, if they inject the filler into the blood vessel, it can cause that blood vessel to freeze up completely,\u201d said plastic surgeon McNally.\u00a0 \u201dIt can kill the skin on your nose, on people\u2019s lips, they can even blind someone.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, if you\u2019re having these injections done with somebody who doesn\u2019t truly know their anatomy, and doesn\u2019t truly know how they should be done, it can have really serious consequences,\u201d McNally said.<\/p>\n In Port St. Lucie, a couple was arrested twice in the summer of 2024 at two different med spas, just weeks apart, and accused of causing great bodily harm and practicing medicine without a license after several botched surgeries and injuries from harmful injections. Customers complained to the authorities about gaping wounds and permanently damaged skin. The criminal case against the couple is ongoing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems to be getting worse,\u201d Aventura plastic surgeon Lampert said of Florida\u2019s unlicensed med spa workers. \u201cIt\u2019s like fast food places. More and more are opening with people who claim to be experts who have had zero training and still do injections.\u201d<\/p>\n Lampert, who has his own plastic surgery practice but also works in the emergency room at HCA Florida Aventura Hospital, has treated patients for severe abscesses on the face and other complications exacerbated when injectors lack the medical knowledge or credentials to respond to a complication. \u201cThey sit on it and wait too long, and then they finally send the patient to the ER, and by that time it is so much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to know how many people have been injured by substances or IV infusions at Florida med spas because the incidents often are not reported to local or state health departments. But as more med spas open, Florida dermatologists and emergency room doctors say they are treating more patients who arrive with complications from med-spa procedures.<\/p>\n In her dermatology practice at the University of Miami, Hu says she has seen everything from oozing infections to skin discoloration to horrible scarring from injectables.<\/p>\n \u201cWe end up treating a lot of patients with undesirable or poor results or sometimes even complications from procedures that they receive from a medispa or from an unlicensed provider or people who are not qualified to do these injections because of the complexity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Luisa Rodrigues, a patient at the now-closed Tonya Beauty Med Spa in Miami, hired Miami attorney Thomas Graham in February 2025\u00a0to sue the med spa after she said an injection harmed her.<\/p>\n Rodrigues\u2019 legal complaint says the aesthetician employed by Tonya Beauty injected a compound extracted from salmon sperm into her face beneath each of her eyes, delivering an excessive amount that left her with irreversible deformities on her face.<\/p>\n \u201cThe employee who injected Luisa Rodrigues did so negligently, and directly and the proximity caused Luisa Rodrigues to suffer permanent swelling, inflammatory changes and discoloration beneath her eyes, leaving her with irreversible deformities on her face and corresponding injuries,\u201d the court complaint says.<\/p>\n The case was settled in September for an undisclosed amount. Tonya Silva Pereira, owner of Tonya Beauty, could not be reached for comment. She appears to have relocated to Brazil, according to court documents in a similar case against her med spa in Orlando.<\/p>\n Graham said Rodrigues\u2019 experience is not isolated. Although med-spa providers have become influencers on social media, he emphasizes that a large Instagram following or good Google reviews don\u2019t ensure safe measures are taken or that injectors are licensed or experienced.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone can create an Instagram profile and advertise injections,\u201d Graham said. \u201cYou need to do some checking. You can\u2019t really expect the state to monitor social media.\u201d<\/p>\n Support local journalism like this by considering a tax-free donation to the Sun Sentinel\u2019s Community News Fund. Click here<\/a> to find out more.<\/p>\n What is a customer to do?<\/p>\n After an injury, it is not easy to sue a med-spa provider for medical malpractice in Florida, according to Graham. Before filing a lawsuit, Florida law requires the person to go through a pre-suit process, which includes hiring a medical expert who must sign a written opinion stating that the provider failed to meet the proper standard of care.<\/p>\n \u201cWe turn down nine out of 10 clients that come looking for help for a medical malpractice and almost unanimously, we have to turn down these med spa cases because they\u2019re either so hard to prove or there\u2019s no insurance or there\u2019s a legal challenge with the med malpractice statute,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n In Florida, the state regulates the people who work at med spas, overseeing licensing and medical practice rules. Oversight is primarily complaint-driven. Actual physical inspections typically occur only after a patient complaint or a competitor\u2019s tip regarding unlicensed activity.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going to have monitoring on a regular basis,\u201d said Taylor, the med spa attorney. Just like with lawyers, \u201cthe expectation is there are rules and you follow them. It\u2019s up to the consumer to a certain extent to do their homework.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to the products used, the FDA regulates the safety, effectiveness, manufacturing, and marketing of drugs and medical devices. However, the agency\u2019s authority is limited to regulating the product itself, not how the med-spa provider uses it. The agency does not walk into every med spa to monitor what they inject, nor does it monitor whether spas advertise non-FDA-approved treatments.<\/p>\n Instead, the FDA focuses on what can be sold to med-spa providers and has cracked down on several international distributors for selling unapproved versions of Botox to U.S. med spas. It has also sent warning letters to med spas that advertise injections as totally risk-free or use misleading photos, a violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lawyers say the industry is evolving faster than the law, leaving each state to figure out how to keep customers safe.<\/p>\n Michael Byrd of BrydAdatto, a business law firm specializing in providing counsel to med spas, explains that the standards and regulations that apply to med spas vary widely and some states are more aggressive about enforcement than others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real problem is that there\u2019s a lack of clarity in each state as to what the rules are,\u201d Byrd said. \u201cWe see that with med spas not being compliant because they can\u2019t figure it out, but we also see it with the enforcement arm. They don\u2019t really understand the laws and what they\u2019re trying to enforce.\u201d<\/p>\n Byrd says he would like to see the adoption of model rules for the industry to serve as a guide for all states.<\/p>\n Sun Sentinel investigates: Med spas unmasked<\/p>\n Part 1 (Feb. 19): Florida med spas operate<\/a> with little government supervision and often without much oversight by physicians.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tfl-l-fat-dissolvers-fda-handout-02.jpg\")
The FDA warns that fat dissolvers are unapproved and may cause significant reactions. A woman who received injections with lipodissolve, a drug that is not FDA approved, reported a severe reaction. (Kaur, H, C Reyes-Barron, WH Sipprell, A Cameron, T Louie, PR Tsai, and G Scott via FDA)
\nTroubling fat dissolvers<\/p>\n![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tfl-z-AP7779608476520055-01.jpg\")
Lemon Bottle says its product is \u201ccompletely safe,\u201d has \u201cno side effects,\u201d and delivers \u201cinstant results.\u201d The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not approve or endorse Lemon Bottle shots, classifies them as unapproved drugs, and warns that they carry significant and unknown risks. (AP file via Business Wire)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tfl-l-fat-dissolvers-fda-handout-01.jpg\")
The FDA warns that fat dissolvers are unapproved and may cause significant reactions. A woman who received injections with lipodissolve, a drug that is not FDA approved, reported a severe reaction. (Kaur, H, C Reyes-Barron, WH Sipprell, A Cameron, T Louie, PR Tsai, and G Scott via FDA)<\/p>\n![\"Vivagen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tfl-l-vivagen-health-coral-ridge3.jpg\")
Peptide therapies have exploded in popularity at Florida med spas, touted for their benefits in healing and longevity. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"IV](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/tfl-z-AP18057695897437-01.jpg\")
IV drips have become more common in Florida, marketed for a variety of anti-aging and rejuvenation uses. (Gerry Broome\/AP file)<\/p>\n![\"Shasa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TFL-L-MED-SPA-DIPLOMAS2.jpg\")
Dr. Shasa Hu, an associate professor at the University of Miami, performs an injection procedure in Miami. She advises patients to make sure that if they are receiving injections, they should be aware that the handling is \u201cup to good clinical practice standards.\u201d She says customers should ask questions \u201cbecause you’re paying someone and putting stuff in your body.\u201d (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nInjuries, reactions and response<\/p>\n