A new Oregon bill would further define what devices aestheticians and advanced practice aestheticians may use. The bill is known as House Bill 2970 (HB 2970), and Representative Rob Nosse is its chief sponsor. HB 2970 is currently with the Senate Committee on Health Care after receiving a recommendation to pass the bill as amended. If the Senate version of this bill passes, it would need to be reconciled with the version passed by the House before moving on to the Governor’s desk.
Currently, Oregon licenses advanced aestheticians who are able to perform a number of non-ablative aesthetic procedures that are commonly performed in medical spas. These can include laser-based treatments and other energy-based devices. HB 2970 would further clarify what devices are permitted for advanced aesthetics by:
HB 2970 goes on to further define what procedures and devices non-advanced aestheticians may use. Esthetics would include temporary hair removal using dermaplaning, lotions, wax, tweezers, or other depilatories. The devices they can use would include microcurrent, LED therapy and microdermabrasion that does not penetrate beyond the epidermis. It would specifically not include lasers, IPL or any device that is defined by rule from the Certified Advanced Estheticians and the Board of Cosmetology.
If passed, HB 2970 would not substantially change the current scopes of practice for either aestheticians or advanced aestheticians. The most significant change will be the explicit requirement to use only FDA-registered devices. This would exclude a number of imported devices from being used in advanced aesthetic facilities.
HB 2970 has had a few amendments added to it regarding unrelated fields; it is unclear if that is intended to create additional support for the bill or not. We will be monitoring this legislation this year.