With the practice of unregistered spas offering clinical cosmetic procedures and Ayurvedic medicines becoming rampant in the state, the Karnataka government has notified that only “medical establishments” can provide such treatment, for which they will have to register under the direct regulatory control of the Health and Family Welfare Department.
The state government issued the order on November 18 following several police complaints of unauthorised medical spas exploiting the public and using chemicals to perform cosmetic treatments despite lacking qualified professionals with expertise. The order said, “Any facility providing clinical cosmetic procedures, skin treatments, or related health services must now register under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act of 2007.”
The order also extends to health professionals in specialised fields such as audiology, behavioural health, medical laboratory science, occupational therapy, optometry, radiation therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology.
With beauty and wellness being one of the major industries in Bengaluru, thousands of firms have been operating in the city without any regulations. Recently, a software engineer lost Rs 48 lakh to a fake Ayurvedic centre that promised to cure his “sexual problems”. He reportedly ended up with damaged kidneys.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said the department had received numerous serious complaints in this regard, and media reports also highlighted unauthorised medical spas mushrooming across the state with a commercial motive, completely disregarding public health.
“These centres were using chemicals to perform cosmetic treatments despite lacking expertise, and were exploiting elderly people’s bone and joint problems by falsely promising permanent cures through radiation therapy. Even though the Health and Family Welfare Department had already detected such fraudulent networks and taken substantial action, it recognised the need for stronger and continuous surveillance,” Rao said.
Importantly, even doctors possessing medical degrees in allopathy, ayurveda, or other systems who were illegally running cosmetic clinics outside their area of qualification and expertise will now be strictly regulated. Services provided by allied healthcare professionals are also being brought under the ambit of this notification, the minister added.