Confusion Over New State Law For Laser Hair Removal

A new state law regulating laser hair removal is causing confusion about who is legally allowed to practice now that the law took effect in November.

The Laser Hair Removal Act sets qualifications, training requirements, and oversight protocols, but some say it leaves out a major group of workers.

The owner of Clinical Aesthetics of Tulsa told News On 6 she has been doing laser hair removal for two decades and under her interpretation of the law, her job could be in jeopardy.

House Bill 2998, also known as The Laser Hair Removal Act, took effect Nov. 1, but there is still confusion about who is legally able to do the job.

Susan Miller, owner of Clinical Aesthetics of Tulsa, said the new law mentions only physicians, physician assistants and certain nurses are approved to do laser hair removal, leaving out aestheticians and medical assistants.

"I felt like it was saying that those of us in the industry who had been doing this for many years, like myself, 20-plus years, were no longer eligible to be able to do that if we did not have a medical degree,” said Miller.

News On 6 contacted all five authors of the bill and heard back from only Sen. Julie Daniels (R – Bartlesville), who said, "The goal of the legislation is to break down barriers to work while providing adequate public safety precautions."

When News On 6 asked her to clarify whether aestheticians and medical assistants are allowed to work under a physician's supervision, she said to contact the Oklahoma Medical Board.

The executive director of the Oklahoma Medical Board, Sandra Harrison, said the legislation is not clear.

She said one option is to request an opinion from the state attorney general, but that is only if the medical board votes to approve a request for an opinion, and the board does not meet again until January.

Harrison said another option is to request clarification on language through the state legislature, which does not return until February.

Dr. Christy Bennett is a medical director for several medical spas and said lawmakers should have gotten feedback from industry professionals and given them a heads-up about the bill. She believes aestheticians and medical assistants should be able to do laser hair removal under a physician's supervision.

"They have been primarily jobs held by women,” said Bennett. “Women being taken out of the workforce immediately by a bill like this is very detrimental to not only the medical community that they serve but also the economy and their livelihood and their families.”

There is even confusion over who regulates aestheticians if the law allows them to do laser hair removal.

The medical board said aestheticians are regulated by the cosmetology board, but the cosmetology board said when working with a physician, aestheticians are under the medical board.

The new law also removes the requirement for onsite supervision from a physician at each facility but requires that devices be FDA-approved.