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StumblePublished Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009 | 4:58 p.m.
Updated Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009 | 5:06 p.m.
Where’s the emergency in the Board of Medical Examiners’ emergency regulation to crack down on unlicensed medical assistants?
Executive Director Louis Ling admitted last week on Face to Face that he’s known for years that doctors are allowing unlicensed workers to illegally administer any number of dangerous drugs and controlled substances, including Botox.
The board is expected to vote Friday to selectively enforce those laws against medical assistants who administer cosmetic injections but not against medical assistants who inject vaccinations and other drugs. The governor’s office and the board say they fear blanket enforcement of the law would land Nevadans in long lines waiting for flu shots.
So why are medical assistants qualified to administer a flu shot, which could have serious side effects if given at the wrong time or to the wrong person, but not qualified to administer Botox, which has temporary effects and could leave a patient with a droopy eye for a few weeks? Even plastic surgeons admit that some medical assistants who inject Botox all day are better at it than doctors who may spend much of their time in plastic surgery.
The so-called emergency regulation will do nothing about the real emergency – the fact that the medical board, which now advocates that no one be punished for breaking the law, forwarded a complaint to the Attorney General that resulted in the arrest of a medical assistant for injecting Botox, a crime committed daily by scores of other medical assistants throughout the state, including an employee of a medical board member.
The arrest, the emergency regulation and Ling’s comments on Face to Face give credence to a pervasive belief in the industry that the doctor-dominated medical board is out to protect its own at the expense of competing medical spas, which are often staffed by the unlicensed assistants.
The state’s emergency regulation stands to put a number of medical assistants out of work and medical spas out of business when unemployment is already at 13 percent. Rather than selectively enforce an existing law, why not establish minimum standards and regulate medical assistants? As plastic surgeon Julio Garcia noted recently, even the person who cuts your hair needs a license. Why not demand the same from the person injecting Botox between your eyes or a vaccine into your child or parent?
I’ve attached a link to the board’s emergency regulation.
This is a very unfortunate case. I know Dr. Rod personally and know what a wonderful man/doctor he is. Dr. Rod would NEVER put his patients safety in jeopardy. Dr. Rod has never practiced medicine with the purpose of greed in the back of his mind. His actions has proven this and that is why stating what he has done in the past is so very important. Stating the fact that he travels thousands of miles to offer his expertise for free to children and adults in third world countries is proof of his LACK of GREED.
Dr. Rod has worked with Monica for years and has built a trusting, working relationship with her he knows what she is capable of and what she is not capable of. He knows what the law states and I am confident that he did not break the law nor did he put any patient in harms way. He is a fantastic caring doctor that cares more than any doctor I know about his patients. He is a doctor who goes above and beyond for his patients, to take this away and to discount his reputation would be a major disservice to the medical community.
I also understand that there cannot be two standards, however if the law is vague then that needs to fixed but don't punish Dr. Rod for a vague law.
As for the people requesting Dr. Rod to resign from the board all I have to say to you all is isn't this America and are you not innocent until proven guilty? Does Dr. Rod not deserve a chance to defend himself? Not only is the law the he supposedly broke vague you all have not even given him his day in front of the board. You have only heard one side and that side is a side that is very biased at that. I say let's hear both sides of the story before we judge and take away a man's history of good hard work, with no other negative actions against him.
I have no idea who Dr. "Rod" and "Monica" are, but it sounds like some people were breaking the law! And thanks Renogal, for the weird, non-sequitur post.
What's the "EMERGENCY"??? Has anyone died from a Medical Assistant giving an injection recently. These Medical Assistants have been giving injections for years. Who wants to wait in a doctors office for hours just to get a shot!! Dr. Rod and Monica should come out from the closet and speak. Dana Gentry invited them to come on the show and they declined...why? If your innocent why not stand up and defend yourselves. Truth is powerful! Don't get it???
It's sad that the whole point of this ruling has nothing to do with public safety, but with the financial gain of physicians in town who are not currently doing well. They feel the only way they can gain business is to shut down existing, successful businesses, under the guise of "public safety" and concern, and by using the media to stir up people's paranoia with swine flu and the hepatitis epidemic. You should really examine why Dr. Rodriguez, who is on the medical board, is choosing to recuse himself from the decision, it's because he has been involved in these "illegal" injections for a number of years with his medical assistant. He has also been putting her through school to get her nursing degree and now that she is almost done, all this is suddenly happening with scrutiny on medical assistants. The fact that Gov. Gibbons has just reappointed Rodriguez and their relationship also makes things look very fishy. If there had been such a worry about safety, what has prompted this? Disgruntled patients? Lawsuits? What prompted this is the attempt at these local physicians with political connections to take advantage of personal relationships and their appointed positions to put safe, well known businesses out on the street so they can steal business. It has NOTHING to do with anything else but personal greed. That so many MA's will be unemployed and families be suffering is not being supported. As a part of the community, we would have been willing to work with the board to establish safe practices, but the manner in which they are doing this just shows selfishness, greed, and malice. As for the person who "personally knows" Dr. Rod and his charity work, that's fine but it doesn't hide his shady dealings in his local community.
It is an emergency because Dr. Rodriguez was appointed by the governor and the governor needs to save face. Welcome to the world of politics!!!
well the vote is done (yesterday actually by Gov. Gibbons) and it looks like he's greatly helped out his friends and colleagues, namely Dr. Rod. MA's are no longer able to give injections, so there will be more members of our sharply rising unemployed group here in Vegas, THANK YOU GOVERNOR! You just ruined a lot of families and businesses here in Las Vegas while helping your friends, I hope everyone will keep an eye out for Dr. Rod's business now, and his soon to be newly educated Monica, and what services they will now be offering. Karma will come back to bite some people, just wait for the backlash. It's pretty great having your own daughter doing PR for you and trying to put spin control on what has already been released to the press, come on girl, can't piss off daddy and you need to worry about your trust fund/inheritance. Politics and the medical board of Las Vegas, a match made in Sin City!
What in the world do you people want????? Why don't you ask ALL the physcians in the state to come forward and FESS up to allowing their MAs and their NURSES (because it applies to nurses too) to give injections? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. What a non issue the real story is. This is clearly all about a couple of people, and yes, we know who you are, who have a personal issue with Dr. Rodriguez. They are people who have issues with almost everyone they meet. It is unfortunate to have ever been associated in any way with these people. It is even pointless to try to argue any kind of point with them because they are irrational. So, go cry over the legislation that was just passed. Keep writing on all the blogs how it is just because Dr. Rodriguez is a sinner and vile and a "moron" and he's doing it all for GREED. Justice prevails in the end and it just looks like you're the fool at the end of the day. Keep making up reasons to keep some kind of trash talk about Dr. Rodriguez going. That's what you do. That's what kind of a person you are. I feel sorry for you. Really sorry. When it doesn't go your way (which it never really will) go sit in your little pity party corner and gnash your teeth and wait for your next chance to lash out at someone who has a mountain of integrity more than you ever will.
NO, it's not about a couple of people, it's about a number of businesses across the valley that have been in operation and all of a sudden need to possibly close or lay off people due to the actions of public officials that are supposed to protect them. If we look like fools because we are using our voice to try and protect ourselves, then great, we're fools. It's not that things don't go our way, this is something that affects our jobs, kids, homes, and functionality in the community. Now if we were operating businesses that were harming people, by all means, bring on the legislation. But we're talking about physicians who are not as successful with their practices looking to take advantage of their political ties to put other people out of business. Dr. Rod was in business with these operations, and now has decided to distance himself from what he has done to salvage his own failures. Mountain of integrity my ass, you obviously are an RN or associated with groups trying to put others out of business the only way you know how, by being shady and immoral. Good for you! These boards are for opinions, so you are free to yours as we are to ours.
I like our family doctor but there is a high turnover rate among his staff. I dont think I've ever seen the same face twice on two different visits. There's no way in hell I'm letting "Maria" who speaks with broken english go poking needles anywhere near me.
Check my blood pressure, fine. Needles, no way.
SANDY BLEDSOE, oops, I mean VEGAS2-
Remind me why you didn't do more research before you opened your illegal medical spa? And do you realize that Botox and other injectables are a very minimal part of income to doctors? And do you realize really how dangerous it is to have unsupervised MAs diagnosing and treating patients?? So, these night school educated MAs must be just as educated and trained as doctors who are highly trained and educated with college, medical and advanced degrees? And, if you didn't want to create a fuss and become exposed, why did you go on Face to Face to cry about it, stabbing Dr. Rodriguez in the back and acting like you respect him? Ha! What did you think was going to happen? When you lashed out at Dr. Rodriguez and his MA the only thing that really happened was that you shot yourself in the foot. Now you're going to have to focus on giving facials.
don't know who Sandy Bledsoe is...well everyone has their opinions, but it will be great to see what transpires when more investigating is done on board members, their history with the issues, and who has initiated all of these safety concerns. It will be pretty clear the reasons on why it's happened and that out of greed, many of these physicians will bring unwanted attention to their own practices and actions.
I am so sorry to all involved that the dialogue has deteriorated to this point. Let's clear up a few points.
Why are we focusing on Dr. Rodriguez and not all doctors who engage in this widespread practice? The answer is simple. Dr. Rodriguez, as a member of the medical board, is in a position to regulate. He suggested in 2007 that the board take the issue of unlicensed assistants working in medical spas to the Legislature. Note, he did not say "unlicensed assistants working anywhere." I have been reporting for more than a year on what is alleged to be a concerted effort on the part of some doctors to hurt medical spas because of the competition they present. The tip, (not from Trish, don't know who she is and never talked with her... so knock off the threats) that Dr. Rod's assistant is unlicensed was of obvious interest given his desire to regulate MAs elsewhere. I phoned his office and asked if he'd talk about the competition between plastic surgeons and medical spas and he declined to be interviewed. That is usually a good sign to me that there is more to investigate. That's when I decided to look into an appointment with Monica. I spoke with her and she told me she was unlicensed but functioned as the doctor's surgical assistant and injected Botox regularly. The next day I received a statement from the doctor's office that his staff was misinformed. I have since talked with a patient who was injected by Monica but never saw Dr. Rodriguez, which makes Monica no different than Betty Guerra, who the state alleges saw patients outside the presence of a doctor. I am not advocating that anyone be punished, least of all Dr. Rodriguez, whose ability I respect and admire, nor Monica, who is said to be among the best. We are simply pointing out the disparity in treatment of two similarly situated MAs.
The emergency regulation passed Friday is unfortunate as it will prohibit many trained and qualified MAs from doing their jobs. The logical reaction, in my opinion, would have been for the state to establish minimum criteria for the procedures peformed by MAs and regulate them. The regulation that was passed gives credence to the theory that the board is biased against the medical spas. Tune in Monday for more with Dr. Lane Smith, a local plastic surgeon and Tracy Hurst from the Medical Spa at Summerlin.
this sandy bledsoe person of focus medical group spa should have her friend make complaint to board that monica injected her friend with dr rod present and without even examing her (and even before new rules). let's see if board can be unbiased then and if sandy has balls to do this if she wants to protect competition. like jordynsikes says about sandy ...they are all shady
Thank you Dana for clarifying your position.
I've never taken the time to blog or respond to the media until now.
The vile expressed hatred has me most disturbed. We the people of Las Vegas are a community and the feedback on this matter is shameful.
My take on the whole matter is that Dr. Rod didn't know a highly qualified and supervised MA couldn't inject fillers. Once clarified he discontinued.
I've been a patient of Dr. Rodriquez's for over ten years. Yes, Dr. Rod has injected my face with fillers (not botox)not his assistant. He's also sutured up my kids on occasion be it a dog bite or accident.
He's a compassionate man, full of honor,integrity and the need to serve the WORLD. Money doesn't motivate Dr. Rod. helping people is the key to his happiness. We should all be so blessed.
Check out his website @ rodmd.com under missions and find out for yourself how dedicated he is to doing the right thing. You'll be amazed.
Yes, I can understand why some might say the boards decision is self serving but with a little knowledge I'm sure most would agree it's ultimately all about protecting the community.
Now, let me pose a few realistic questions.
Do manicurists, facialists, hairdressers and/or massage therapists have to go thru some sort of rigorous education and licensing process? Yes.
Would you want just anybody to be able to set up shop and become the Professional BOTOX INJECTOR without a Dr. being present? I'd think not. If you had a bad reaction or paralyzed nerve, would you have recourse? I don't think so.
I would think (common sense) it reasonable to assume that these procedures fall under the umbrella of a Dr. of Dermatology or a Dr. of Plastic Surgery.
The thought that people are upset they're losing their $300.00 dollar an hour job for unskilled, uneducated labor doesn't bother me. Yes, they may say it's not fair. Life isn't fair. We each have the ability to strive to do our best in whatever field we choose.
We know becoming a doctor requires a rigorous education. To think some individuals feel entitled to inject people when it falls in the work scope of a doctor or registered nurse is mind boggling.
I consider myself an open minded person and yet I would never let a med spa touch my face with a known toxic injection. Bargain rate or not.
Please step back and look at the big picture. Find a great Dr. and you'll find peace in knowing you can still have your botox.