IV Therapy: Inside the $2 Billion Wellness SCAM
IV Therapy: Inside the $2 Billion Wellness SCAM
A friend told me she gets an IV drip every time she lands from a work trip. She thinks it is keeping her healthy.
I had to tell her the truth.
I've been practicing medicine for decades, and the IV bar industry is one of the things that genuinely keeps me up at night. Not because wellness is bad. Because this industry has convinced millions of healthy people to pay for something their bodies may not need, often in settings where the legal and medical safeguards are not what patients assume they are.
Here is what is actually happening inside these places, and why you deserve to know before you book.
You're Paying for Expensive Urine
"If you just paid ninety-nine dollars for an IV infusion and you've got all your vitamins, you're just gonna pee those right out." — Dr. Kate Dee, Med Spa Confidential
Your body absorbs what it needs and eliminates the rest. That is true whether the vitamin C comes from an orange, a supplement, or a hundred-dollar drip.
If you are a healthy person with a functioning digestive system, bypassing your gut does not automatically give you an advantage. It just gives you a very expensive shortcut to the bathroom.
Electrolyte water costs about a dollar. A hydration tablet costs even less. For most healthy adults, oral hydration works. The science behind drinking fluids, replacing electrolytes when needed, and letting your digestive system do its job is not new.
In the episode, I break down exactly why the IV absorption argument does not hold up the way these businesses want you to believe it does.
The Legal Problem Nobody Explains
"A nurse cannot prescribe an IV to you. The only person who can is a doctor, a nurse practitioner, or a PA." — Dr. Kate Dee, Med Spa Confidential
When my friend walked into her IV bar, she filled out a form and sat down in a chair. A registered nurse stuck a needle in her arm. She never saw a physician. Nobody prescribed anything. She just ordered off a menu.
That is the problem.
In many states, a registered nurse cannot independently prescribe elective IV therapy. A licensed prescriber has to evaluate you first, decide whether the treatment is appropriate, and issue the order. That usually means a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant, depending on the state.
Most patients assume that if someone is wearing scrubs and the room looks medical, the treatment must be legal and safe. That assumption can be deadly.
When It Goes Wrong, It Goes Wrong Fast
"There is no quicker way to die than to hang something in an IV and have that be the wrong thing." — Dr. Kate Dee, Med Spa Confidential
I want you to sit with that for a moment.
An IV bypasses many of the protective steps your body normally has. There is no slow digestion. There is no gradual absorption. There may be very little time to react if the wrong ingredient, the wrong dose, or the wrong patient history gets missed.
What goes into that bag goes directly into your bloodstream.
Jenifer Cleveland walked into a Texas med spa for a routine IV infusion and never came home. The case later helped inspire new IV therapy legislation in Texas. A San Diego-area patient died after receiving an IV turmeric treatment from a naturopathic practitioner and experiencing a severe reaction.
These cases are rare, but they are not imaginary. They are reminders that IV therapy is not a smoothie. It is not a spa service. It is a medical procedure.
Before Your Next Appointment
The marketing is persuasive. The spaces are beautiful. The people running them may genuinely believe in what they are selling.
But belief is not the same as safety.
Before anyone comes near your vein, ask who prescribed your IV. Ask whether you were evaluated by a licensed prescriber. Ask who is responsible if something goes wrong.
If you cannot get a straight answer, walk out.
Listen to this episode of Med Spa Confidential to hear exactly what a legal, ethical IV service looks like, and the three questions that can protect you before anyone puts anything into your bloodstream.
Episode Transcripts:
[00:00:00] Dr. Kate Dee: there is no quicker way to die than to hang something in an IV
[00:00:03] Dr. Kate Dee: and have that be the wrong thing or, God forbid, have a reaction to it. I'm Dr. Kate Dee, founder and medical director of Glo Medispa, and this is Med Spa Confidential, where we expose the risks, the red flags, and the outright illegal practices happening inside med spas right now because you deserve to know the truth before you book.
[00:00:23] Dr. Kate Dee: I wanna talk to you today about, IV bars. I want to cover a topic that I think is [00:00:30] one of the most egregious ones in the med spa industry today. I was just talking to a friend yesterday who was telling me that she was going to an IV bar because this nurse had convinced her that she would recover more quickly from being dehydrated on a plane, so that every time she came home after a big work trip, she was getting these IVs to recover.
[00:00:55] Dr. Kate Dee: And I'm like, "Well, why not just have some water [00:01:00] with electrolytes in it?" And she's like, "Oh, well, I-- they also put vitamins in my IV." And, and she thinks that it's healthful for her to be doing this. So I'm gonna explain to you exactly why it is not helping your health, and it is not helping your wallet, and the vast majority of IV bars in this country are completely illegal.
[00:01:22] Dr. Kate Dee: So let's talk about what happens when you have an IV put into you, okay? First of all, [00:01:30] we use IVs in the hospital to treat people with various diseases or problems of digestion or absorption. for example, someone who's undergoing chemotherapy, and they can't keep their food down, okay?
[00:01:43] Dr. Kate Dee: They're nauseated from that. Or someone who's pregnant and has hyperemesis or morning sickness, and they just can't get enough nutrition for themselves or their baby. for people who have, you know, various diseases that need an [00:02:00] IV infusion of a drug, we use that a lot. For instance, IV antibiotics for big, big infections.
[00:02:07] Dr. Kate Dee: So, however, if you're a normal, healthy person, you can drink water or an electrolyte solution like Gatorade or Liquid IV or a Nuun, and you will absorb that just fine, and that doesn't cost hardly any money. Water is essentially close to free in this country, and those electrolyte pills, those are pretty cheap.
[00:02:29] Dr. Kate Dee: [00:02:30] So why are people getting IV infusions instead? Well, they are being convinced that this is somehow good for their health. But what it is is creating extremely expensive urine, okay? Because if you have a vitamin in your IV, say vitamin C or one of the B vitamins, They get filtered through your kidneys and you pee it out.
[00:02:54] Dr. Kate Dee: So it's very, very expensive pee. If you just paid ninety-nine dollars for an IV infusion and you've [00:03:00] got all your vitamins, you're just gonna pee those right out. That is not more healthy than taking a vitamin or eating an orange. Okay? so the idea that that is more healthy for you is illogical. Yes, certain people definitely need assistance in absorbing, electrolytes and vitamins, but if you are a healthy human, you do not, okay?
[00:03:23] Dr. Kate Dee: So you are buying something that is not helping your health. And what's really [00:03:30] bothersome to me is the person who sold it to you, the, the medical professional who should be having your best interest at heart, they sold it to you, and they did it to you anyway and took your money. And if they know anything about medicine or physiology, they would know that what they were doing was not helping you.
[00:03:50] Dr. Kate Dee: so that person, if it was a doctor or someone with real medical training and they're selling it to you anyway, I'm sorry, that's just unethical. [00:04:00] We are not supposed to do things to people that are unnecessary. We-- The first thing is do no harm. So never do something that could potentially be harmful, right?
[00:04:10] Dr. Kate Dee: if somebody doesn't need it. Okay? So generally, any unnecessary procedure that is, you know, completely unneeded and not helpful, there are always dangers that come with any procedure. So if someone came to a surgeon and said, "Hey, doc, I want my gallbladder out," [00:04:30] and if there's nothing wrong with the gallbladder and the patient has no symptoms about their gallbladder and it's completely medically unnecessary, the surgeon would just turn them away and say, "Well, you don't need your gallbladder out.
[00:04:40] Dr. Kate Dee: I'm not gonna operate on you unnecessarily." Right? Now, okay, that's a ridiculous example 'cause who wants their gallbladder out if they don't really need it out? but as a physician, I can tell you that if somebody asked me for a procedure that I thought was medically unnecessary, I would not do it. So what's happening in IV bars?
[00:04:59] Dr. Kate Dee: People are [00:05:00] asking for these vitamin infusions because they think that it's healthy. and they're being sold it, and they don't care. That's how this person's making their money, is putting this IV into you. So my question is, for all the providers who are doing this to normal, healthy people, how do you justify it?
[00:05:16] Dr. Kate Dee: How do you live with yourself selling people stuff they don't need? So one, super unethical, okay? Second, totally unnecessary. So if you're spending $100 on an IV infusion when you could spend, you know, say a dollar an [00:05:30] electrolyte water, save your money. Go get that electrolyte water, okay? So the other thing is, what about these by-- IV bars? Are they operating legally to start with, okay? Because did you see a doctor or a nurse practitioner or a PA who did an exam on you and prescribed the IV? Or did you just or- order it off a menu and a nurse or another technician where you don't even know what their license is [00:06:00] did it t-to you, for you, stuck the IV in your arm?
[00:06:03] Dr. Kate Dee: Because if that's what happened, guess what? That's illegal. So a nurse cannot prescribe an IV to you. A non-medical person cannot prescribe an IV. The only person who can prescribe the IV is the doctor or the nurse practitioner or the PA. So my friend that I was talking to yesterday, I was like, "Well, so you-- when you first went to this place, did you get an exam?
[00:06:24] Dr. Kate Dee: Did someone prescribe the IV?" The answer was no. The only person she's ever seen in that [00:06:30] place is a registered nurse. Totally illegal, people. Okay, that is not legal. So if you walk into an IV bar and you don't even have an assessment by someone who can prescribe an IV, that's illegal. And frankly, even though you might have ideas about what you want in your IV, if you're not a doctor yourself or an NP or a PA, you cannot prescribe that to yourself either.
[00:06:55] Dr. Kate Dee: So even though this is a willful interaction, so you wanted it, [00:07:00] and the nurse gave it to you, and you paid them money Okay? Still isn't legal. The laws in this country govern who can do that IV, who can make that decision to put that IV in you, and it's not you, the patient, and it's not the RN who did it.
[00:07:14] Dr. Kate Dee: Okay? So vast majority of these IV bars are operating illegally, right? Vast majority of them totally unethical, selling you stuff you don't need. What's the harm? Well, the harm is that actually there is no [00:07:30] quicker way to die than to hang something in an IV and have that be the wrong thing or, God forbid, have a reaction to it.
[00:07:37] Dr. Kate Dee: So there's this egregious case you've heard me talk about many times on this podcast, where Jennifer Cleveland went into a med spa with an IV bar. She was receiving what she thought was a, an infusion of electrolytes and vitamins, and instead it killed her. Why? Because the person put too much potassium in the [00:08:00] IV.
[00:08:00] Dr. Kate Dee: Now, how many of you guys go into IV bars? If any of you go to IV bars, how many patients know that too much potassium could kill them? Well, you know, if you follow the news, people on death row in this country, in America, people who are actually executed, that's how they're executed, is to hang potassium in their IV, stop their heart.
[00:08:22] Dr. Kate Dee: So if you're a doctor, you're gonna know, well, my God, why would you hang, potassium in someone's IV? You would never do that. Why did this person even [00:08:30] have access to the potassium in the first place? Who made the decision to put it in there? The problem is, if you have someone who doesn't know anything about medicine and they put something in your IV thinking, "Oh, this must be good for you.
[00:08:43] Dr. Kate Dee: Potassium's good for you. That's why I have a banana every day," or, "That's why I eat avocados every day." Yes, potassium's good for you. But when you eat potassium in a banana or an avocado, your body absorbs what it needs, and anything extra, it is [00:09:00] peed out. Okay? So you will pee it out in your urine. And so anything that's excessive that won't kill you will, again, just be peed out in your urine.
[00:09:09] Dr. Kate Dee: So but the important thing is don't put anything in the IV that could be dangerous. Well, what else is dangerous? Lots of things are dangerous. There's another case in San Diego in two thousand eighteen where this was actually a naturopath who did this, who thought, "Oh, turmeric is really good for you.
[00:09:25] Dr. Kate Dee: Let's put it in an IV." And the patient had an anaphylactic [00:09:30] reaction and died because there was turmeric in the IV. And guess what? That naturopath doesn't know anything about medicine, should never have put n- tur- turmeric in the IV.
[00:09:39]
[00:10:29] Dr. Kate Dee: The idea of [00:10:30] grinding up spices that you could eat and putting it in an IV, well, that's really risky because anything you put into your bloodstream, if you are gonna have anaphylaxis, it's gonna happen right away.
[00:10:40] Dr. Kate Dee: It's not gonna be like eating something where it happens a little more slowly, slow enough to grab an EpiPen and save your life. An IV, that is immediate, okay? That's in your bloodstream. So is the person putting your IV in your arm knowledgeable enough to know what to put in and [00:11:00] what not to And if they are that knowledgeable, why are they putting an IV in your arm in the first place if you do not need one?
[00:11:07] Dr. Kate Dee: IV bars are extremely dangerous, especially when owned and run by the wrong person. IV bars are risky to your health and to your wallet. They are unethical, and the vast majority are illegal. So I'm not saying every single instance of someone getting an IV electively is bad. [00:11:30] Let's say you're in Las Vegas, and you are there for three nights, and you're with a bunch of people who are partying their minds out, and you are completely hungover, and you gotta get healthy fast and party again.
[00:11:44] Dr. Kate Dee: Now, you could just have some electrolyte water and take a few hours, have some coffee. But if you go to an IV bar, sure, you could rehydrate maybe a little bit quicker, just in time for the party starting again at three o'clock in the afternoon, or maybe it's at [00:12:00] eleven. I don't know. I think people start partying all day long.
[00:12:03] Dr. Kate Dee: In any event, is that appropriate? You could decide appropriate or not appropriate, but as long as it's legal and as long as it's ethically run, then okay, an IV will get you back on the party scene really fast. All right? But for the vast majority of people, you don't need this IV bar. Just don't go. It's really dangerous.
[00:12:26] Dr. Kate Dee: I don't think they're being ethical in not telling you, [00:12:30] "Well, you know, hey, by the time you're done here and you go home and you are, making dinner, by that time if you had an electrolyte water now, you'd be in the same position, three hours from now as if you have this IV today." Like, you really, really...
[00:12:47] Dr. Kate Dee: In my opinion, there are very few instances where an elective IV is appropriate in somebody who is healthy. Now, again, if you are sick, if you have a gastroenteritis and you [00:13:00] can't keep anything down, if you're truly dehydrated because of illness or cancer chemotherapy or another drug potentially, there are lots of reasons why doctors would prescribe an IV.
[00:13:11] Dr. Kate Dee: Generally, those require being at least in an urgent care, if not in an emergency room or the hospital. So the, the-- If you're at home walking around and you are just, enjoying life and you think that this is somehow adding to your health and wellness, think again, because it's just not. And if you're a [00:13:30] provider who disagrees with me, feel free to make that argument in the comments.
[00:13:35] Dr. Kate Dee: I would love to hear from you. And I wanna hear your argument about why you think that your IV bar is not falling into any of the traps I just mentioned. And if you are a consumer and you regularly go to an IV bar that's taking your money, and you're convinced that somehow you're healthier because of it, I would love to hear that, too.
[00:13:55] Dr. Kate Dee: There are many, many people who feel like it just-- they just feel better afterwards. [00:14:00] Well, it is true. You will just kinda feel better when you are fully hydrated. Keep hydrated, drink water all day long, have one good el- electrolyte drink a day at least, and you'll maintain your electrolytes, and you'll feel great.
[00:14:13] Dr. Kate Dee: So those are my opinions about IV bars. I'd love to hear your comments, and somebody in there, go ahead, try to prove me wrong Thanks for listening. If this episode opened your eyes to something you didn't know before, share it with someone who needs to hear it. [00:14:30] Subscribe so you don't miss the next one, and drop a comment telling me your biggest takeaway. I actually read them all. Join me on this mission to keep you safe and push this industry to do better.
