UPDATE (July 2): H5844 was not addressed by the Rhode Island Senate during its floor meeting on July 1, after which the state's regular legislative session was adjourned. Since the Senate now stands in recess, the future of the bill is unknown. However, both the speaker of the House and the president of the Senate have indicated that they expect the state's governor to call a special session of the general assembly sometime in the fall, at which time it may be revisited. AmSpa will keep an eye on the bill to see if it resurfaces during this session; in the meantime, Rhode Island aesthetics professionals should read the amended bill and contact their state senator's office to make their thoughts on the matter known.
Rhode Island’s controversial House Bill 5844 (H5844), which was introduced in February and seeks to codify who can perform medical spa procedures in the state, has passed the House by a 62-6 vote after undergoing extensive amendments from the state’s House Committee on Health and Human Services; the amended version of bill has been sent to the state’s Senate and may be voted on later tonight. (The Senate session begins at 4 pm EDT.) The amended version further defines the roles of the providers and alters some of the language of the original bill. Significantly, it states that only physicians may perform ablative laser treatments; physicians may delegate non-ablative laser treatments to other qualified personnel. You can read the amended bill here; the original version is here.
AmSpa will be monitoring the progress of the new version of the bill and will provide commentary after review.