Maryland’s New Rules for Botox Injections, Wrinkle Fillers

New regulations that took effect August 23 in Maryland will help ensure that anyone looking to have Botox or wrinkle filler injections or have laser hair removal in the state can be sure that the person performing the procedure is a physician or medical professional.

Before this regulation, Maryland did not classify these non-surgical cosmetic services as medical procedures, so they were unregulated, according to the Maryland Daily Record.

“The concern was that medicine was changing and there was very little regulation,” said Dr. Lawrence J. Green. “There was no such thing as some of these procedures 10 to 15 years ago.”

The Maryland Board of Physicians spent four years working with doctors from different specialties and the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi) to come up with the new regulations to protect the public from any possible unsafe procedures.

With the new regulations, these cosmetic procedures are now defined as the practice of medicine and therefore require that they be performed in most cases by a physician trained in those practices. If non-physicians violate these regulations, they can be found guilty of practicing medicine without a license and fined up to $50,000.

“With these procedures, you can be injecting chemicals into your body, and the people doing it should have medical training,” MedChi CEO Gene M. Ransom III said. “It might sound like a simple thing, but it’s not. These regulations clarify who can do them, and who is qualified.”

Also, a physician now has to be on-site in most cases (unless the board of physicians has approved a plan of delegation). Before the first procedure, a doctor must also examine the patient and maintain a medical record.

Dr. Michael Will is a board certified oral surgeon, cosmetic surgeon, and dental anesthesiologist in Frederick County, Maryland, who offers Botox and wrinkle fillers, such as Juvederm and Restylane.