Consumer Guide to Steamboat Bodyworks-Aesthetics & Skin Care

Bare.A Skin Care & Waxing Studio

Sara Clapp is licensed with the State of Colorado, COZ.0611868, to provide all services listed.

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Family Medicine of Steamboat Springs

According to their ad, this practice consists of two medical doctors and one physician assistant, who are licensed with the State of Colorado.

Millie Flanigan, PA.0001325

Rosanne Iversen, DR.0031614

Phaedra Fegley, DR.0043109

However, there is no mention of any credentials that would qualify them to perform esthetician services and there is no mention of a person involved in their practice who might be qualified as an esthetician and would have a license that can be verified. Of particular concern for consumers is that this practice includes the sale of supplements.

From the American Medical Association (AMA), Opinion 8.063 – Sale of Health-Related Products from Physicians’ Offices

 In-office sale of health-related products by physicians presents a financial conflict of interest, risks placing undue pressure on the patient, and threatens to erode patient trust and undermine the primary obligation of physicians to serve the interests of their patients before their own.

(1) Physicians who choose to sell health-related products from their offices should not sell any health-related products whose claims of benefit lack scientific validity. When judging the efficacy of a product, physicians should rely on peer-reviewed literature and other unbiased scientific sources that review evidence in a sound, systematic, and reliable fashion.

(2) Because of the risk of patient exploitation and the potential to demean the profession of medicine, physicians who choose to sell health-related products from their offices must take steps to minimize their financial conflicts of interest. The following guidelines apply:

(a) In general, physicians should limit sales to products that serve the immediate and pressing needs of their patients. For example, if traveling to the closest pharmacy would in some way jeopardize the welfare of the patient (eg, forcing a patient with a broken leg to travel to a local pharmacy for crutches), then it may be appropriate to provide the product from the physician’s office. These conditions are explained in more detail in the Council’s Opinion 8.06, "Prescribing and Dispensing Drugs and Devices," and are analogous to situations that constitute exceptions to the permissibility of self-referral.

(b) Physicians may distribute other health-related products to their patients free of charge or at cost, in order to make useful products readily available to their patients. When health-related products are offered free or at cost, it helps to ensure removal of the elements of personal gain and financial conflicts of interest that may interfere, or appear to interfere, with the physician’s independent medical judgment.

(3) Physicians must disclose fully the nature of their financial arrangement with a manufacturer or supplier to sell health-related products. Disclosure includes informing patients of financial interests as well as about the availability of the product or other equivalent products elsewhere. Disclosure can be accomplished through face-to-face communication or by posting an easily understandable written notification in a prominent location that is accessible by all patients in the office. In addition, physicians should, upon request, provide patients with understandable literature that relies on scientific standards in addressing the risks, benefits, and limits of knowledge regarding the health-related product.

(4) Physicians should not participate in exclusive distributorships of health-related products which are available only through physicians’ offices. Physicians should encourage manufacturers to make products of established benefit more fairly and more widely accessible to patients than exclusive distribution mechanisms allow. (II)

Issued December 1999 based on the report "Sale of Health-Related Products from Physicians' Offices," adopted June 1999.

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Grace Cure` Skincare

This esthetician is licensed by the State of Colorado, COZ.0000742. One of the offerings is reflexology, for which consumers should be aware of the recommendation from the National Council Against Health Fraud.

NCAHF advises practitioners and consumers of reflexology to be skeptical of therapeutic claims beyond the ability of foot massage for relaxation. Health professionals should be cautious about recommending practitioners who make, or encourage patients to believe in, unproved claims that reflexology is a valid method for assessing health status or for the treatment of diseases.

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Life Essentials Day Spa

No names are listed for this company, so no licenses can be checked. Their status with the Best of the Boat is more a result of a small popularity contest that can be used for advertising purposes and not a guarantee of quality.

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Spa Ooh La La

No names are listed for this company, so no licenses can be checked.

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Sundance Studio

Tania Demerdjian is licensed with the state of Colorado, COZ.0106427.

Consumers always have to be aware of buzzwords used to promote certain products. In this case, the term biogenetic is used to describe skin care products. The given definition, "of life, present in the skin" is inaccurate and misleading, as the accepted definition of biogenetic is, "of or pertaining to the production of living organisms from other living organisms."

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Yampa Valley Medical Associates

The website for this company lists an aesthetician on staff, Petra Chladek, however, no license with the State of Colorado could be found for this individual.

Consumers who are considering aesthetician care at this facility should ask for a licensed aesthetician, which guarantees a certain level of knowledge and skill.

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Best Advice and Expert Information

From the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)

   The Office of Barber & Cosmetology Licensure regulates individuals who practice in the State of Colorado as barbers, cosmetologists, hairstylists, estheticians, and manicurists. The Office also regulates the Shops and Salons where these services are performed. Licensure for these occupations is mandatory in Colorado. The Office’s activities include licensing exceptions, investigation of complaints, determination of discipline, and enforcement of discipline for those who violate the Barber and Cosmetologist Act and the Office of Barber and Cosmetologist Licensure Rules. The purpose of the Office of Barber & Cosmetology Licensure is to protect the consumer.