Sonia Dakar,<\/a> an aesthetician in Los Angeles, had her license revoked in June 2026 after a patient sued her for \u201csevere burns and permanent scarring\u201d following a chemical peel.<\/p>\nA mushrooming problem<\/p>\n
Online, there are now dozens of Facebook groups and forums titled \u201cBotox Gone Wrong\u201d and \u201cFlawed Fillers & Botched Botox \u2014 An Awareness Group\u201d that share med spa horror stories that include damage from lasers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Overwhelmingly female, the members talk about aggressive treatments that have melted facial fat leaving them looking 15 years older with sagging, hallow skin, severe and ongoing facial pain from a compressed nerve following misplaced filler. <\/p>\n
A 20-year old shared she\u2019d become suicidal following a facial surgery, after a blockage that blocked blood flow and caused the skin on her chin to fall off, leaving her permanently disfigured.<\/p>\n
And another group member, 35-year-old New Yorker Tara, who asked to use a pseudonym, told The Post that on more than one occasion her Botox from popular med spa Peachy left her with a severe brow drop and \u201ccrazy carrot top Spock eyebrows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joey Grant Luther, a Hell\u2019s Kitchen aesthetician, allegedly injected patients with phony Botox from China, leading one woman to experience disturbing symptoms. Instagram \/ Joey Grant Luther<\/p>\n
\u201cIt almost actually made me look older because it wasn\u2019t done correctly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tried correcting it, but instead of correcting it, they just made it worse by making my eyelids look super heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she notes that her experience was hardly the most traumatic, it was enough for her to reconsider going back to the provider for any further aesthetic enhancements on her face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest problem with a lot of these med spas is they don\u2019t actually care if you return because that\u2019s not their business model,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
What is the business model?<\/p>\n
Low outlay costs (rent, basic equipment and staffing), a high volume of patients and \u201caffordable\u201d premium fees that drive profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But experts described it to The Post as the wild west, which is complicated by ever-changing state guidelines.<\/p>\n
New York City-based board-certified dermatologist Dr. Chang Son told The Post he frequently sees \u201caesthetic consultants\u201d or medical assistants open spas by hiring nurses and low-cost medical directors, who are MDs, but often located out of state or retired, and take on the role as passive income.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is the loophole that allows customers to think they\u2019re under direct medical supervision and to help pass a sniff test with over-burdened regulators, as it appears legal on paper. <\/p>\n
In reality, sources told The Post this is technically unlawful but regulators don\u2019t usually see it unless formal complaints are filed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll hire nurses and a low-cost medical director just to sign charts, then quickly build a viable business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Registered nurses often perform injectables with little supervision, and often charge less than the board-certified physicians, which draws in patients, Son said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One former New York City aesthetician, who requested anonymity because she still works in the industry, told The Post she was hired and permitted to do laser hair removal on clients for several months after her professional license had expired.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there are people doing injections who shouldn\u2019t be,\u201d she told The Post. \u201cTechnically I can do microneedling under my license, but I don\u2019t know if a doctor has to be present. There were no doctors present at any place I worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
As shocking as that sounds, that unregulated supervision is more common than expected, especially in NYC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clinics skirting the rules<\/p>\n
When Cleavage Clinic opened in Manhattan in 2023, it quickly attracted attention for offering a \u201cnon-surgical natural boob job\u201d using injectable fillers instead of implants and radiofrequency microneedling designed to tighten skin \u2014 both procedures that New York considers medical treatments.<\/p>\n
Women looking for breast enhancement can schedule a complimentary consultation with co-founder Brianna Tomaselli, who is described as a breast aesthetic specialist with no medical affiliation, after a simple online booking.<\/p>\n
Depending on the client\u2019s goals, treatment packages can be purchased and received in the chic Midtown office, adorned with white-tiled flooring and modern wood wall paneling, for up to $6,800.00.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Cleavage Clinic is part of a new generation of aesthetic businesses that follow the same cookie-cutter model \u2014 slick branding, a massive social media presence, a novel procedure, and founders who don\u2019t fit consumers\u2019 expectations of a traditional medical practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In their case, Cleavage Clinic boasts a staff of registered nurses, performing services only meant for medical providers.<\/p>\n
In New York, RNs cannot evaluate patients independently, diagnose, or create treatment plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But lawyers and doctors explained to The Post that nurses are permitted to perform some cosmetic procedures under a doctor or highly trained provider\u2019s supervision, who must provide specific instructions for each patient and also must be on site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Which is where Dr. Eeman Tariq comes in. The Cleavage Clinic lists Tariq, a \u201cboard-certified physician and artist\u201d based in Florida, who works with several other clinics in various states and offers peptide and IV treatments, as its medical director.<\/p>\n
Doctors encourage all patients seeking treatment to do their due diligence when choosing a provider. Pixel-Shot \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
Several attorneys interviewed by The Post said many med spas, such as this one, advertise a medical director, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean a business complies with New York law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few that I know of that have a medical director who isn\u2019t even board-certified plastic or derm,\u201d New York board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Darren Smith told The Post.<\/p>\n
Smith said the common play is that a medical director is often just an MD, but not even affiliated with internal medicine, which is why a dentist can technically offer you Botox.<\/p>\n
\u201c95% of the time that is fine, but when there is a problem it\u2019s not fine,\u201d the surgeon said. \u201cFiller is really dangerous; you can have tissue necrosis, which with rapid intervention can be reversed, but that is something you need advanced training to mediate.\u201d<\/p>\n
As similar medical spas have proliferated across New York, so too have questions over who is responsible for policing them. The law hasn\u2019t evolved as quickly as the business has.<\/p>\n
Consumers often assume a medical spa is simply another type of doctor\u2019s office. But under New York law, \u201cmedical spa\u201d isn\u2019t a legal business category at all\u2014it\u2019s a marketing term used to describe businesses offering a mix of medical and non-medical aesthetic services.<\/p>\n
Public records reviewed by The Post show Cleavage Clinic is set up as a standard limited liability company rather than a physician-owned professional corporation or professional limited liability company.<\/p>\n
Under New York\u2019s Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine, attorneys told The Post that businesses providing medical services generally must do so through physician-owned professional entities\u2014not ordinary LLCs.<\/p>\n
Operating like a standard LLC business doesn\u2019t automatically mean a spa is breaking the law\u2014some work with doctor-owned companies that manage the medical side.<\/p>\n
However, under New York\u2019s Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine, simply employing or contracting with a physician is not enough for a business performing medical procedures.<\/p>\n
Attorneys say it is not uncommon for businesses to look like they\u2019re compliant on paper by listing doctors or management companies on official documents, but in reality may be skirting the requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And regulators often rely on complaints from physicians and others before opening investigations.<\/p>\n
The Post reached out to the Cleavage Clinic to explain its corporate structure, identify the professional entity responsible for providing medical services, describe its physician supervision model, and explain how it complies with New York\u2019s Corporate Practice of Medicine doctrine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They have yet to respond.<\/p>\n
When things go wrong<\/p>\n
Attorneys and physicians interviewed by The Post said these business models make it increasingly difficult for consumers \u2014 and regulators \u2014 to distinguish compliant businesses from those operating in legal gray areas.<\/p>\n
Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Anetta Reszko still remembers one of the worst complications she has treated from a med spa: a woman whose nose tissue began dying after filler blocked its blood supply and failed to recognize it as a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The patient ultimately required two reconstructive surgeries.<\/p>\n
Complications are rare but highlight why experience and training matter. \u2018Board certified\u2019 can be a loosely thrown term.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Plastic surgery and dermatology are certified through ABMS-recognized specialty boards.<\/p>\n
Many organizations offer certifications that aren\u2019t equivalent to true specialty credentials.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen nurses call themselves doctors because they have a doctorate, which misleads patients,\u201d Son added. \u201cPatients assume a provider has an MD just because of a certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n
To make things more complicated, not all non-ABMS-certified providers are unqualified\u2014some nurse injectors are highly experienced and even train others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is often a misconception that a doctor is going to be better than a nurse or a nurse injector,\u201d board-certified facial plastic surgeon\u00a0Dr. Sean Alemi told The Post. \u201cBecause if a plastic surgeon doesn\u2019t spend a lot of time doing injectables, then I think they\u2019re less qualified than a nurse who\u2019s doing that stuff all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the industry grows, the burden of distinguishing qualified providers from polished marketing increasingly falls on consumers\u2014a responsibility Reszko believes shouldn\u2019t rest with patients alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually difficult,\u201d she said. \u201cThe office is pretty. The girls at the front desk are very cute, and they said they had the treatment done. So you tend to trust that.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as aesthetic medicine grows, she said, regulators will eventually have to answer a broader question: \u201cWho should be administering them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Until then, she said, patients should ask to see a provider\u2019s own before-and-after photos, ask how often they perform a procedure and research who will actually be treating them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s your body,\u201d she said. \u201cYou do have to do that research.\u201d<\/p>\n
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