AmSpa CEO Shares Med Spa Red Flags

Posted By Madilyn Moeller, Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Provider in a med spa treats patient with device

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has been investigating med spas in the state for proper dispensing of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, suspending licenses and issuing citations to keep the public safe.  In the wake of two more board actions and increased public scrutiny over med spa compliance and safety, 10 Investigates reached out for expert guidance.

Alex Thiersch, JD, CEO and founder of the American Med Spa Association (AmSpa), has been working for the last 12 years to help consumers find access to high-quality med spa services.

Green Flags vs. Red Flags

When it comes to vetting a med spa, he said to consider the following information:

Green

  • They have a good number of positive referrals and reviews.
  • They have a lead physician or physicians supervising the practice.
  • They should offer you a physical exam before prescribing certain treatments.

Red

  • They have deals that seem too good to be true.
  • They are unwilling to answer questions about practitioner credentials.
  • They pressure you to sign up for services.

"If you're getting rushed, if you feel like you're being pressured. Those are red flags. There's no reason for any of that to happen. It wouldn't happen in your normal doctor's office. It shouldn't happen in a medical spa," said Thiersch.

He added that because there isn't a board of aesthetics that these businesses answer to, it can be hard to track industry-wide guidelines that folks should be following.
And he said that's how some med spas find themselves in hot water.

The Fix?

To help med spas from getting off track, Thiersch wants to see better communication and education between existing medical boards and med spas. But he also said industry-wide guidelines need to be put in writing and enforced in some way.

"I do think there is a fairly standardized path forward that the industry already really agrees on, and we just need to make sure that that gets codified in some way," he said.

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