Cheek Slapped with Cosmetic Charges: North Carolina Spa Owner Faces 20 Felony Counts for Cosmetic Injections

Criminal charges have been filed against a spa owner in Greensboro, North Carolina in a case that is likely to also produce civil lawsuits. Lauretta Cheek is charged with causing kidney failure in people who received injections of Silskin, a cosmetic drug that is supposed to be given only under a doctor’s proscription. Her spa, Altmed of the Triad, has been shutdown. The case may shed light on the shadowy world of so-called “medspas.”

Cheek faces felony charges, including fraud for allegedly using a Chapel Hill doctor’s name to get hold of prescription drugs. Medspas are becoming more common and more controversial since they seek to “treat” conditions in a qausi-medical fashion.

Cheek faces also a charge of practicing medicine without a license. In torts, if sued, she will be held to the standard of a professional doctor in determining whether she was negligent — not a medspa owner.

One twist, brought to my attention by Lex Alexander, is that Silskin may not have been available for use, click here.

For the full story, click here and here.