IV hydration spas are largely unregulated despite growing popularity, study finds

The booming IV hydration spa industry operates with virtually no oversight or data backing up its claims, according to the first comprehensive analysis of the spa clinics.

The booming IV hydration spa industry operates with virtually no oversight or data backing up its claims, according to the first comprehensive national analysis of hydration clinics.

At clinics nationwide, people pay hundreds of dollars to have vitamins and minerals dripped directly into their veins as a detox, to ease headaches or boost immunity, “almost completely without evidence,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest and co-author of the study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. “As a result, there’s a real danger to consumers.”

Hydration clinics, combined with the growing number of med spas offering intravenous vitamin drips, skin care and cosmetic procedures, have ballooned into a $15 billion wellness industry in recent years, according to the American Med Spa Association.

A nurse prepares a patient for an IV at Hydrate IV Bar in Denver in 2019. AAron Ontiveroz / Denver Post via Getty Images fileThe group represents med spas, which often offer IV treatments, nationwide. Alex Thiersch, chief executive officer of the American Med Spa Association, said some IV hydration clinic providers don’t realize that they’re actually practicing medicine and may lack proper training.

“We have had folks who are surprised by that,” Thiersch said. “They thought, ‘I’m just doing an IV. It’s different. It’s vitamins.’”