[Complications after laser hair removal: the standpoint of a dermatological legal expert regarding liability].

BACKGROUND

Laser hair removal is widely used, including outside medical settings. Potential complications, notably burns, may engage the operator's liability. In this case, investigations by medical experts are frequently requested.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

We describe 6 expert examinations carried out by the same legal dermatology expert between 2012 and 2014. They concerned burns of varying severity caused by laser hair removal procedures carried out by a doctor, a physiotherapist and 4 beauticians.

DISCUSSION: Laser hair removal is carried out in many beauty centres, although in France it is restricted by law to medical use. This practice is thus currently the subject of legal and economic controversy. The analysis of 6 medical expert investigations of accidents involving laser hair removal illustrates the various types of fault in which the operator's liability may be engaged and it also serves to redefine the legal framework of this act within the realm of aesthetic medicine.