Injunction bars emergency regulations for vaccines

By Tiffany Gibson

Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 | 1:45 p.m.

A District Court judge today issued an injunction barring emergency regulations from going into effect that would allow medical assistants to give injections, including flu shots and other vaccines.

Judge Kathleen Delaney ruled that Nevada open meeting requirements were not met by the Medical Examiners Board at the time the regulations -- which would have prevented medical assistants from injecting patients with Botox but allowed them to inject vaccines -- were passed because all public comments weren't heard before a vote took place. All public comments weren't heard before a vote took place.

The emergency regulations prohibited medical assistants from injecting cosmetic fillers, chemotherapy, anesthetics or inflammatory drugs. There was a controversy in Las Vegas about unlicensed medical assistants performing certain procedures that some argued should be left to a doctor.

The board originally called an emergency meeting at the recommendation of Executive Director Louis Ling. Ling proposed that medical assistants should be allowed to give flu shots, but not Botox injections.

Gov. Jim Gibbons had backed the board, calling an emergency session to adopt the regulation but said he didn't want emergency regulation standing in the way of citizens getting their flu shots as the season, expected to be harsh, approaches.

Delaney earlier this month issued a temporary restraining order to stop the emergency regulations from going into effect.

Ling has said the board had been working on regulations when the controversy arose. He said the issue will be before the 2011 Nevada Legislature as lawmakers determine what procedures medical assistants should and should not be allowed to perform.

Several medical assistants have said they were unaware of the restrictions in the law because it is rarely enforced.

Attorney Jacob Hafter represented Tracy Hurst, owner of a medical spa in Summerlin, who didn't have the opportunity to speak at the board's emergency meeting.

Hurst said the new rules affected a lot of people, including her business and employees.

"I guess we do have a Constitution because the judge saw through the bill, and it's working," Hurst said. "What does Botox have to do with flu shots?"

Hurst also said she believes the Medical Examiners Board isn't concerned with injections in general, it's concerned with the Botox procedures. She said plastic surgeons want medical spas out of business because they offer cheaper prices.

Carol Cohen, president of Nevada State Society of Medical Assistants, said she thinks medical assistants should be able to administer flu shots. There is legislation that permits them to do so elsewhere, including California, Georgia and Arkansas, she said.

"This isn't a new issue, but it is in Nevada," Cohen said. "I'm not sure why the cosmetic injection aspect of it is being focused on."

Hafter said he was pleased with Delaney's ruling and plans to seek justice for some of the medical spa assistants caught in the controversy.

Medical spa assistant Rebecca Luth said she didn't receive a paycheck last week because of the law.

"I've been doing this for over 30 years and in one day I was put out of a job," Luth said.

Tears streaming from her eyes, Luth said that she hasn't been able to sleep since losing her job and hopes that whatever new regulations go into effect will let her go back to work.