Karl Cossio via (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/) Flickr
A spa owner in New Mexico is facing a litany of charges after two clients were diagnosed with HIV after receiving the salons “vampire facials.”
Maria Ruiz ran an illegal medical spa in New Mexico that was shut down in 2018 after New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas launched an investigation into how two of her former clients contracted HIV. Balderas suspects that the “vampire facials” or PRP Therapy the spa offered is what gave the clients HIV.
From The Daily Caller:
This procedure involves taking blood from a patient and then injecting it back into their patient’s face using microneedles, WSPA reported. The procedure serves as a non-surgical way to get a facelift, but Ruiz was not properly licensed to give this treatment.
“We knew we had to shut the business down,” Balderas said, according to WSPA, “These are procedures that should be supervised by a medical doctor.”
Once authorities discovered the spa could have been the source of the HIV cases, the New Mexico Department of Health recommended clients of the spa to get tested for HIV, local outlet KRQE previously reported.
Ruiz’s cosmetology and business license have since expired. Now, she is facing 24 felony charges for a variety of crimes such as tax evasion, racketeering, fraud, money laundering and illegal practice of medicine, according to the press release. Authorities claim Ruiz fabricated certificates, such as a degree from the University of Phoenix, as a ruse to trick her patients into trusting her and getting procedures, WSPA reported. (RELATED: Real-Life Vampire Scare Kills At Least Eight)
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is now advising anyone else who is looking to get this procedure that they should ensure that the establishment they are going to is properly licensed. Balderas also commented that the owner of the spa had “deceived many women into trusting her, and her facility.“
