Ontario nursing regulator moves to ban unsupervised Botox and filler injections at med spas - Toronto Star

An ongoing Star investigation has revealed details of unsupervised and allegedly botched esthetic treatments in GTA clinics.

Experts say the proposed rules target a trend called “rent a licence,” where doctors and nurse practitioners have been paid to act as supervisors for multiple med spas while having little to no involvement in day-to-day operations.

Ontario’s nursing regulator is moving to ban unsupervised esthetic injections by unlicensed staff, amid growing concerns about oversight of the med spa industry.

The move comes after the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) had released sweeping guidelines for nurses in esthetic services but drew criticism for failing to fully fill a regulatory gap: Without being on site, nurses can delegate the injecting of customers to unsupervised staffers who are not overseen by a college.

The CNO is set to vote on the proposed change to its practice standards today, as the college continues to tighten its grip on esthetic services.

Since January, an ongoing Star investigation has revealed details of four patients who were allegedly harmed after receiving esthetic treatments in GTA clinics. None of the delegating medical directors were on site at the time of the procedures. One of those patients died.

After an esthetician allegedly applied lidocaine cream — a prescription numbing drug — over the 38-year-old woman’s face and body in preparation for microneedling, the woman started seizing and vomiting, and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. A coroner later found she died of lidocaine toxicity. The clinic’s medical director and delegating nurse, neither of whom were on site during the procedure, have denied they breached any duty of care.