Currents: Beautiful Choices

The Impact of Right to Repair on the Aesthetic Medical Market

The medical aesthetics industry is eyeing potential implications of pending changes to “Right to Repair” laws. A bill introduced in the Senate this year follows onto a 2021 executive order that aims to make it easier for individuals or third-party vendors to repair a variety of products. Most observers agree that cell phones and other digital communications devices will be affected by potential new regulations. But what about medical devices?

“My hunch is that they will carve out an exception for medical device manufacturers, but we don’t know,” says Madison Dini, JD, commercial and business litigation attorney at Michelman & Robinson. She notes that any medical device exception could be broad or limited only to certain types of devices.

Changes to Right to Repair could mean that practices may be able to turn to less expensive third-party vendors for device repairs and forego service warranties from manufacturers, or manufacturers may retain the right to solely repair their devices. “We are in limbo a little bit, and it’s just a really interesting thing to keep our eye on right now,” Ms. Dini observes.

Ms. Dini encourages physicians to be aware of changes to Right to Repair legislation, but she suggests that they rely on trusted, expert advisors to help them navigate the potential impact of developing changes. This is especially important as they consider purchases and make decisions about warranty and service contract renewals, she says. Ms. Dini also points out that many states have additional legislation that affects Right to Repair.

With changes possible, physicians and practices must continue to read contracts carefully and document device maintenance, Ms. Dini suggests. Note that lapses in warranty coverage could impact liability insurance coverage. She urges practices to keep track of all renewals and required service dates and be sure to avoid lapses.

Right to Repair is most familiar to Americans in relationship to legislation in the 1970s that allowed car owners to have vehicles serviced at third-party repair shops rather than dealerships.

Meet the Cast of Allergan Aesthetics’ and Botox Cosmetic’s New Campaign

Allergan Aesthetics is unveiling the 25 real patients—of all forms, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds—who were selected to participate in the latest iteration of the Botox Cosmetic “See Yourself” campaign.

After receiving nearly 20,000 submissions to its first-ever open casting call, Botox Cosmetic is creating a content series that captures inspiring and intimate accounts of people speaking candidly about how they see themselves and their motivation for being treated with Botox Cosmetic.

“We were thrilled by the huge influx of responses we received to our open casting call in January of this year,” says Carrie Strom, Senior Vice President, AbbVie and President, Global Allergan Aesthetics, in a news release. “It was moving to see how Botox Cosmetic continues to impact so many lives across the country. Our mission continues to be rooted in showing up authentically, sharing candid, sincere stories and content highlighting our real patients’ reasons for getting treated and how they feel about treatment. At a time when people want transparency and honesty, we are giving them just that, real patients with real results.”

The newly released content includes testimonial footage, before-and-after treatment, behind- the-scenes footage, self-filmed treatment diaries, a new before & after series for YouTube and social first reels. The videos provide candid interviews with the cast members—one before their Botox Cosmetic treatment and a second interview 30 days post-treatment.

“I am so happy Botox Cosmetic is helping to pull back the curtain on what the treatment experience is really like and answering key questions so many of my patients have,” says Sherly Soleiman, MD. “The reality is my patients don’t want to see more models staring into the camera while striking a posh pose. They want to see people they can fully relate to because they have similar challenges, desires, and hopes in life. I choose Botox Cosmetic because I believe in the product, the level of scientific rigor behind it, and the results it delivers. This campaign gives me yet another reason to continue to choose Botox Cosmetic for myself and my patients.”

In addition to sharing their stories, the cast answered the 10 most common questions about Botox Cosmetic that people search online in a special content series that will appear online.

Follow @BotoxCosmetic on social for more.

Merz Aesthetics Unveils New Look

Merz Aesthetics’ new corporate visual identity is intended to underscore the company’s commitment to putting the definition of beauty back into the hands of the individual through a vibrant and distinct color palette along with strong and joyful photography, they say.

The new visual identity features bright shades of orange, yellow, green, red and blue contrasted by minimalist black and white typography enhaced by photography representing diverse ages and cultural backgrounds that highlight personal authenticity. They present confident poses and expressions that allow their individual beauty to stand out, Merz Aesthetics explains.

“It was important to create a cohesive and clear visual identity for Merz Aesthetics that reflects who we are and our purpose to fuel confidence,” says Bob Rhatigan, CEO, Merz Aesthetics, in a news release. “Confidence is the higher order benefit of medical aesthetics. It drives everything we do to support our customers and patients. Launching this new visual identity reaffirms to our customers, employees and patients that we stand behind the shared vision of a more confident world.”

BTL Introduces Emface

BTL is taking on the minimally invasive facial aesthetic category with the launch of EMFACE.

Emface simultaneously emits both synchronized radio frequency and HIFES-brand energies. The homogenous radiofrequency heats collagen and elastin fibers while the HIFES stimulation emits thousands of pulses per session to contract delicate facial muscles.

The recommended treatment course for the EMFACE therapy calls for four 20-minute sessions, with each session completed 2-14 days apart.

The findings from nine clinical studies concluded that participants who completed the recommended treatment course experienced, on average, a 37% reduction in wrinkles, 30% increase in facial muscle tone, and 23% lifting effect—with optimal results seen 6-12 weeks after final treatment. What’s more, the 2-in-1 procedure is needle- and injectable-free and requires no pre- or post-preparation or downtime.

“When the innovative Emsculpt surprised the aesthetics market in 2018, BTL committed to continued investment in creating an extensive pipeline of groundbreaking therapies. Utilizing 20+ years of institutional knowledge we continue to round out the body solutions with our Emsculpt Neo platform and have our sights set on tackling facial applications with the Emface platform,” says Scott Mills, President of BTL.

“Emface is going to do for the face what Emsculpt did for the body,” adds New York City facial plastic surgeon Yael Halaas, MD. “EMFACE helps restore more youthful function to facial muscles,”

Beverly Hills, CA-based plastic surgeon Brian Kinney, MD elaborates, “and it promotes more youthful-looking skin, which doesn’t just look better, it functions more like it used to. It’s very easy to explain this to people and they love the concepts, especially if they’re averse to more invasive treatments or injectables, which many people are.”

L’Oréal Breaks Ground on New Research and Innovation Center in NJ

L’Oréal USA says its new, state-of-the-art Research & Innovation (R&I) Center in Clark, NJ, is replacing existing facilities that it has occupied in the area for more than 60 years. The $140 million project represents the most significant investment in an R&I facility in the company’s history.

The company says the new R&I Center will strengthen its capacity to advance the scientific and technological research behind the products and services aimed at meeting the diverse beauty expectations of consumers in the US and worldwide. The R&I Center will focus on beauty innovations across the spectrum of hair, skin, and makeup categories while pioneering research through strategic scientific fields such as Green Sciences and Beauty Tech.

The nearly 250,000 square-foot R&I Center will bring together more than 550 employees across all areas of the company’s North America Research & Innovation Division, Development under one roof.