By Courtney P. Cowan, JD, associate attorney, ByrdAdatto

As many in the med spa industry are aware, Texas Senate Bill 2366 (SB 2366) was introduced earlier this month in the current legislative session. Almost instantaneously, it sent shockwaves through the medical community when it was filed by Senator Brian Hughes of District 1 on March 8th.

For context, the 86th Texas legislative session began on January 8, 2019, with almost 9,000 bills being introduced this session. March 8 was the last day to file a bill for the current session, which is notable since that was also the same day SB 2366 was filed. The regular session ends on May 27, 2019.

As the second step in a long legislative process, SB 2366 has been assigned to the Senate Business & Commerce Committee. This Committee will look over SB 2366, deliberate it, recommend it for amendment, and hold public hearing on it. At the end of its review of the bill, the Committee will give a report back to the Senate at large, which will then decide whether SB 2366 should be approved or disapproved. If it is approved, then SB 2366 will go to the Texas House of Representatives for review, repeating the entire process described above again before going to the Governor to be approved as law.

ByrdAdatto and American Med Spa Association (AmSpa) have been in contact with Senator Hughes's office to gather more insight into the introduction of SB 2366. After speaking with a representative for Senator Hughes, his office commented that SB 2366 as it was introduced was not the intended language of the Senator. Moreover, the representative also stated that the response from the industry and stakeholders had been significantly more than they anticipated.

With all of that being said, it would take a lot of moving pieces, proposing and passing of more bills, as well as various legislative amendments for this bill to ever really take effect against delegated providers in the industry. Another point worth highlighting is that the first iteration of a bill, such as this one, will typically go through many revisions and amendments before ever getting passed (if ever). So even if SB 2366 goes into effect, it likely will look vastly different than the current proposed language.

Due to SB 2366 being such a hot topic within the industry, Patrick O'Brien of AmSpa and Samuel Pondrom of ByrdAdatto gave an in-depth webinar presentation for AmSpa regarding SB 2366. You can listen to Patrick and Sam's discussion here.

ByrdAdatto understands that SB 2366 could impact Texas and its med spa industry in a big way, and we will continue to monitor the bill as it makes its way through the legislature. While it is uncertain whether SB 2366 will become law, it should be recognized that as the med spa industry continues to expand and grow, there will continue to be legislation implemented to regulate it.

As the daughter of a periodontist, Courtney P. Cowan has been fascinated by the health care field since childhood. Courtney often accompanied her father to his office where she developed an appreciation for physicians and their respective practices. Having absolutely no dexterity that is required to be a surgeon, however, Courtney instead decided to pursue a degree in business while attending Baylor University. It wasn't until she was required to take a business law course that Courtney discovered her passion for the law. After graduating from SMU Dedman School of Law, Courtney serendipitously connected with ByrdAdatto and now assists our clients by combining her business background with her enthusiasm for health care and the law.