Who may operate a cosmetic laser in Alabama?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Only a physician, or a properly trained Level 1 or 2 delegate acting under written protocol and physician supervision for non-ablative treatments — operating a laser on tissue below the stratum corneum is the practice of medicine.
(1) The use of lasers/pulsed light devices, or any energy source, chemical, or other modality that affects living tissue (when referring to the skin, anything below the stratum corneum), whether applied for surgical, therapeutic, or cosmetic purposes, is the practice of medicine.
Ala. Admin. Code r. 540-X-11-.01(1) (Purpose) · verified Sep 4, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Alabama rules
On-site supervision means continuous supervision in which the supervising physician is physically present in the same building as the properly trained Level 1 or 2 Delegate who is using a laser or light-based device; all treatments and procedures must be performed under the physician's direction and immediate personal supervision, and the physician must be immediately available at all times that the Level 1 or 2 Delegate is on duty.
Ala. Admin. Code r. 540-X-11-.02(8) (On-Site Supervision) · verified Sep 8, 2026
(1) A physician must complete thirty (30) hours of training. A Level 1 or 2 Delegate must complete forty (40) hours of training.
Ala. Admin. Code r. 540-X-11-.06(1) (Initial training requirements for physicians and delegates) · verified Sep 4, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alaska
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- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
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- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
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- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
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← All Alabama rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).