State plans to change cosmetic injection rules
PORTLAND, Ore. – Lisa Kelly hoped some cosmetic injections after a facelift would wipe away leftover wrinkles.
Instead, her face was left swollen and discolored.
Kelly started looking into the background of the woman who gave her the injections at her plastic surgeon’s office.
“She’s not anything. She’s got no license at all,” said Kelly.
When Kelly complained to the Oregon Medical Board, she received an alarming email:
“The Chief Investigator and our Medical Director have been considering your issue for some time and have concluded that, based on our statutes and rules, there is nothing in Oregon law that currently precludes anyone from administering... injections for cosmetic purposes...”
In May, the KATU Investigators brought that to the attention of State Rep. Mitch Greenlick of Portland, who co-chairs the State House Health Care Committee.
“I think that’s nonsense,” said Greenlick in May. “I think they’re misinterpreting what the laws are. I can’t believe any interpretation that says that’s not practicing medicine.”
Oregon Medical Board Executive Director Kathleen Haley says that could soon change.
“We’re looking at defining it as the practice of medicine,” she said. “So if someone is to do it who is not a licensed medical care provider, then the board could take action against them for the unauthorized practice of medicine.”
The KATU Investigators found that right now people with nothing but a cosmetology degree for doing hair, makeup and skin care are giving cosmetic injections in Oregon, and nobody knows how many are doing it.
The Oregon Medical Board says it’s “unclear whether or not [they] are working under any supervision.”
In Washington and California, the person doing the injections is required to be a state-certified nurse at the very least.
The Oregon Medical Board officially proposed new certifications this month, answering Lisa Kelly’s call for change.
“If something really bad happens, there’s going to be some problems,” said Kelly.
If you have a story for the KATU Investigators, send an email to investigators@katu.com
Where is this woman's culpability???? Who asked her to do this? Was her life threatened if she didn't have this procedure done?? And who in their right mind doesn't realize that once any kind of work is done to your face, there's going to be bruising??? I have absolutely NO sympathy for her. Got news for her...eventually those wrinkles will come back...gavity sucks, but there ya go. Some women just really shame my gender :( Stupid.
 @fracas If you paid attention to the original story you could see there is more than bruising the unlicensed injectionist did procedures that were not even FDA approved and she was in a WELL Known Plastic Surgeons office the Dr. Referred her to the injectionist in his office he had to know the Injectionist had NO LICENSE. How do you have someone in your medical office with absolutely no medical license using prescription drugs in an off label application. Crazy...
Have a look at the video. There is a great looking woman (with the Medical Examiner's office) interviewed who probably has not had any procedures done. She looks mature, but normal and natural. Young women should make women like her their role models. The smoothed out perfect look is not as pretty as they think, doesn't last and only separates them from their hard earned money. Â I feel bad that women feel that they have to remove all wrinkles. The worst period seems to be the 40s and 50s. They are under a lot of pressure.Â
you need a license to do a massage, why in the world would you not have to be licensed to give injections? Oregon makes no sense at times. I have a great Doctor doing my injections.
I have to say that the woman is pretty brave to come forward and be interviewed. She opens herself up to all kinds of scrutiny.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/police-fake-doctor-injected-cement-super-glue-into-womans-buttocks-for-enhancement-procedure/
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Do not go here unless you have a puck bucket nearby. You have been warned.
I suppose if you are that vain, and are that desperate to get botoxed, then you get what you pay for.
Would you like a little cheese with your whine?
 @theobserverYou are missing the point of the original story. The injectionist posed as a Licensed medical professional and was listed on Juvederm.com as "Find A Dr." She was in a Well Known Plastic Surgeons Office. Since you can't wrap your head around the cosmetic procedure element. Try thinking like this.. that you hired what appeared to be a licensed contractor to work on your plumbing. The person worked for a huge well known plumbing firm. After your entire house flooded and you found out your insurance does no cover floods you find out that the person who caused the issue was actually a "fake" and unlicensed plumber... Get IT! YOU are screwed. Same as this person. There was medical complications you can see and insurance will not pay for them. Terrible situation and if you try putting yourself in this situation you might be a little more sympathetic.
 @theobserver None of the men and women I know who have had cosmetic procedures did so because they were vain. The majority of them did to ease societal pressure regarding their appearance (#1 reason for my friends was their career). Face lifts, hair implantation, facial resurfacing (wrinkle reduction) - you might be surprised at how their cosmetic procedures allowed doors to open in their careers where they'd been stuck.
@advocatus diaboli @theobserver They are appealing to their own vanity or that of others. To support the assertion that one must look the part or they can not do the job is pure folly and the practice, and support of, such an idea is a detriment to us all.
Personally I am ok with being ugly and capable.
@theobserver There's nothing wrong with wanting to look good. The problem here is that she wanted to look good and didn't do her research. I would do serious indepth research before I let anybody do anything like this to me.
What asinine comments on this thread! Seriously, people, do you really think it is OK to have someone who no training whatsoever under any state-regulated agency or board  doing injections into the body? Let's see how many reasons I can come up with off the top of my head:  anaphylaxis from allergic response, hitting a nerve with the needle and damaging it, hitting a vein and injecting this toxin directly  into the bloodstream, no training in safe needling techniques or blood-borne illnesses equals the possible spread or infection with HIV, Hepatitis B & C, and more. Even tattoo artists have to be state regulated after passing tests,  and acupuncturists are licensed by the Board of Medicine after passing exams. LMTs who don't even break the skin with needles must pass exams and be licensed by the state.  I would call this situation as someone practicing medicine without a license.  These untrained/unlicensed persons  have not even taken anatomy, physiology, pathology, blood-borne disease transmission, safe needling techniques and office hygiene, or even CPR or first aid! Wow.
AS for those who want to do stuff like this to themselves...it may be a bit much but every case is different  and every reason is different. Same as coloring hair, tattoos, pieced ears, etc. To try to be Barbie forever is over the top. To correct damaged skin  is something different. I speak as a skin cancer survivor 12 x over. NO I don't have  Botox because I would not be able to physiologically  tolerate it , but if it could make some  of those  cancer scars a lot less obvious with *no bad side effects* for me I might  consider it.
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@whirledworld And if the woman in question would have done proper research into this "medical procedure" she might have come to a different conclusion regarding it's necessity. If some good comes out of this situation then all the better but it does not excuse her lackadaisical approach.
Gee. a couple of people die, a few have bad results, and now we get a law to prevent stupidity. How come when more than 30 people A DAY die from firearms, we can't have some gun control?
@Mechanic Those are two pretty different things. There isn't any amendment regarding plastic surgery...it's a little less sensitive of a subject to pass laws on.
 @Mechanic We have plenty of gun control what we don't have is people control.  A syringe of Botox, a 9mm Glock, both tools with a job to do, both can be used by unscrupulous people to bring about harm and sadness.
 @Mechanic Absolutely correct! We can have handguns going off in theaters, schools, malls, the streets, but no action on the part of politicians. You can buy all the ammunition you want, no one says a word. But, you get a botox injection from a hack and we can't write a law or regulation fast enough. Pathetic.
 @drosen  @Mechanic Yes, guns, they're just "going off" all over the world. Cars, they're just crashing everywhere. Syringes, they're just injecting people everywhere.
Go to OHSU for this, I would never have this done at the mall.. that's just stupid !
Sounds like buyers remorse. Please do not waste the time of legislators and medical professionals to address the vanity and/or lack of confidence some people seem to have. See a therapist.
http://www.oregon.gov/OBLPCT/Pages/index.aspx
I think injections are great and I recommend them to anyone who wants to freshen their look BUT, people, do the research, read reviews that people leave, and make sure that you are seeing a licensed practitioner!Â
 @K. Michelle Pendley If you had seen the original story you would have seen she was in a WELL known plastic surgeons Office and the Dr. referred her to the unlicensed injectionist in his office.
@K. Michelle Pendley Agreed.
Miss Kelly still needs expanding foam injections in her lips. I can do this cheap but, I can't save her any money if she don't come see me today!
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Another excuse to siphon $ and to regulate more people.
...if you're that shallow and fixated on how you look, I sorta figure you deserve whatever you get.
Safer accepting life on life's term than fighting Father Time. Besides, true beauty resides within oneself...
 @str1ngb3nd3r I agree, that's why I keep all my beauty on the inside!
Scary... very scary... injections are an invasive procedure... and they're injecting a chemical with possibly nasty side-effects... if the patient has an undisclosed (because it was unknown to them) allergy or sensitivity to the Botox, you could have some really bad things happening really fast... Â