Is my filler injector properly licensed?

Look up the injector's license yourself ahead of the appointment.

Confirm the license with the body that issued it

Do not assume. Get the injector's name, license type and license number from the practice, then confirm them with the body that issued the license.

Treat the regulator's record as the license

A license is a record held by a regulator. A practice website, a badge on the wall or a confident manner is not that record. Get the identifiers, then check them where the record lives.

Ask the practice to give you these in writing:

• The injector's full name.
• The type of license that person holds.
• The license number and the body that issued it.
• The name of the supervising clinician, if there is one.

Then run the check yourself. Open the issuing body's own lookup, enter the details, and compare the name and license type with what the practice said. If the practice withholds the details, or the lookup does not match, stop and ask why.

Read the law firm note on cosmetologists, estheticians and med spa providers conducting medical procedures without the required licenses. Then open the professional society's guide to choosing a medical spa for how it advises choosing one. For local coverage, read the news report on New York medical spas and the state's department of state. The state agency page on esthetics covers a neighboring license type. Ask the practice which body licenses your injector, and use that body's lookup.

Run the license lookup in four moves

1. Request the injector's name, license type, number and issuing body.
2. Look the license up with the issuing body.
3. Match every detail to what the practice told you.
4. Read the consent form in full before you sign it.

Rely on the license record over any badge

The license record is the primary document for this question. Treat it as the only proof that counts.