ALL STATES have laws that make it illegal to practice medicine without a license. There is NO STATE THAT HAS PROVISION TO ISSUE A LICENSE TO OPERATE A LASER AS A SEPARATE ISSUE FROM GENERAL OR PLASTIC SURGERY.

The use of a laser to DESTROY,KILL,OR REMOVE LIVE TISSUE such as the hair root IS SURGERY. Therefore, a laser treatment is really a “LASER SURGICAL PROCEDURE”. Now they are using these devices to remove wrinkles, veins, rosacea, psoriasis, “age spots”. acne and they are getting more invlved with SURGERY, consequently, MORE ILLEGAL ACTS which are NOT COVERED BY ANY MALPRACTICE INSURANCE.

The use of lasers for these procedures are described in SURGICAL textbooks because they are another aspect of surgery. These texts do not give recipies because they do not belong there. Medical doctors use pills but surgeons use scalpels, lasers, and other devices that cut things out or off and with lasers and short wave they can remove things below the surface without cutting the surface but they are still DESTROYING OR REMOVING LIVE TISSUE AND SOMETIMES DEAD TISSUE AS IN GANGRENE OR A TRANSPLANT and that is what makes it SURGERY. Sometimes is can be for “cosmetic” purposes (like a nose job or breast augmentation), however, it involves ACCESSING LIVE TISSUE, DISEASED TISSUE and/or DEAD TISSUE.

Hi Andrea.........You have to realize most lawsuits NEVER get to court. They are settled by the insurance companies WITHOUT GOING TO COURT. This means there is NO PUBLIC RECORD but the insurance companies KNOW HOW MUCH THEY PAID OUT TO SETTLE THEM AND HOW MANY THERE WERE EVEN THOUGH WE NEVER HAVE ACCESS TO THIS INFO.

Daryl told me it is getting more difficult to obtain this insurance and he wants it for his accounts. It is interesting to note the “legal” definition of “settlement”.
To a lawyer it means YOU BOTHER ME AND I WILL PAY YOU TO STOP BOTHERING ME ....WITH NO ADMISSION OF GUILT. IF YOU DIVULGE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU RECEIVED THERE IS A STIFF PENALTY. That is why the patients never talk, therefore, the FDA has no record of the number of these cases but insurance companies exchange this information and act accordingly. This also eliminates the expense and time it takes to go through the court system. “LAWS ARE MADE BY LAWYERS FOR LAWYERS WITH NO REGARD FOR ANYONE ELSE” (I do not remember who said that but I agree). There are VERY FEW GOOD TRIAL LAWYERS and the expense is unbelievable when you have to get EXPERTS to support your position. I do not know when you spoke to Daryl but my meeting was Sept. 21. There were about 150-200 electrologists present.

Just to make sure I've got this straight:

There is an increase in melanomas but no one knows why, and you posit that Dr's are not reporting them so as to cover their asses.

There will soon be a lawsuit that will do away with the tanning industry.

Doctors are hesitant to diagnose these melanomas because they don't want to get involved in sticky malpractice cases. You don't state it, but I think it stands to reason that that means these doctors are instead committing gross negligence by allowing their cancer riddled patients to walk out the door without warning them.

Lawyers won't take cases that settle for less than $50,000 (this is my favorite )

Insurance companies are settling out of court (how they're doing it without the lawyers I'm not clear on).

Using a laser to remove hair is surgery, but inserting an electrified needle into the hair shaft to remove hair is not.

Doctors, lawyers, and the insurance companies are all conspiring to keep the truth about lasers causing melanomas away from the public. Yet we should believe some random guy from Marlborough, Massachusetts who keeps ranting on a fairly obscure internet site (no offense Andrea).

Insurance companies are no longer insuring the laser hair removal companies.

Oh wait, yes they are; nevermind.

Have I missed anything? Keep digging. No doubt you'll soon find the connection between laser hair removal practioners and the September 11th attacks.

God I love the internet.

No offense taken, Homer!

Now you see why I have the bulletin board on a totally separate site from hairfacts.

As soomeone who is a published researcher (Neuroscientist, electrophysiology), your claim regarding independent duplication of results being required for publication is patently false. To publish one must only do an interesting study that has good controls. The peer review process is part where the quality of the controls and interest in the results is examined. If they pass review, the article is published. Also know that I read research literature on laser treatments for around 6 hours today (by chance)
and I ran across not a single article mentioning melanoma risk changes. I do not totally discount your claim of increased risk, but I do challange the imlplied notion that current evidence suggests laser treatment is associated with a drastic increase in the incidence of melanomas. Know that the guys like me who do research for a living get paid when we make publishable and therefore fundable findings. If there is laser associated cancer risk, rest asure some geek will publish on topic. And all will be funded by the Natitional Institute of Health Cancer Institute, which provides any geek with a good idea and lab space research funding.
Clebla

Thanks for joining Homer and others as a voice of reason in this thread, clebla!