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Montana med spa & injectable regulations

What’s changing for med spas and injectors in Montana — GLP-1 compounding, scope-of-practice, and enforcement — plus the federal FDA and Federal Register actions that apply in Montana. MedSpaRadar monitors it all and tells you, in plain language, what changed and what to do.

Opening a med spa in Montana? Start with who may own one, the medical director rules, and who may inject in Montana →

Latest Montana changes

No Montana-specific changes have crossed our radar yet — we’re monitoring the Montana legislature daily. The federal changes below apply to every Montana practice today.

Federal changes that apply in Montana

FDA and Federal Register actions are nationwide — they govern Montana practices too.

See the full regulatory feed →

What we monitor in Montana

  • Montana legislature — bills on injectables, GLP-1s & scope of practice
  • Montana Department of Justice — Attorney-general enforcement and consumer-protection announcements.
  • U.S. FDA — enforcement, warning letters, recalls, shortages
  • Federal Register — new rules on compounding & aesthetics

Montana med spa questions, answered from statute

The same verified record, asked the way operators actually ask it — who may own one, who may inject, what the supervising physician has to do. 21 questions have a cited Montana answer today.

Browse the 21 Montana questions →

Montana med-spa compliance rules

72 rules across 7 topics — physician delegation, the good-faith exam, ownership & corporate practice of medicine, RN/NP scope, med-spa registration, advertising, and enforcement — each linked to its primary source. Reference and monitoring, not legal advice.

Physician supervision & delegation17 cited rules

The statute makes the diagnosis, treatment, or correction of human conditions by any means the practice of medicine, telemedicine included, and a medical assistant is exempt only when rendering services under the appropriate amount and type of supervision of a licensee.

Good-faith examination7 cited rules

The Code defines telemedicine as the practice of medicine by interactive electronic communications, information technology, or audio-only conversation between a licensee and a patient in different locations, and permits a person licensed under Title 37 to provide health care to do so by telehealth when that is…

Ownership & corporate practice of medicine7 cited rules

The Act defines a professional service as one that may lawfully be rendered only by licensed persons and may not lawfully be rendered by an ordinary business corporation, restricts share ownership in a professional corporation to qualified persons, requires at least one-half of the combined directors and officers…

RN / NP scope for injectables12 cited rules

Professional nursing includes the administration of medications and treatments prescribed by physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses, and the other prescribers the statute lists, and practical nursing is the same administration under the supervision of a registered nurse or a…

Med-spa registration & licensing11 cited rules

Montana licenses the practitioner and, on the cosmetology side, the premises; it has no medical-spa license. Nothing in the medical practice act or the Board of Medical Examiners’ rules licenses a facility. A salon or shop where esthetics is practiced needs a license from the department, may open on a provisional license once licensure and inspection fees are paid, and may not house another business outside the board’s scopes of practice unless that area is separated by a full-length partition. The Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists sets the fees in a rule, in dollars: $100 for a practitioner license, $125 for a salon or shop license, $150 for a salon or shop inspection, and $95 for a booth rental license. The Board of Medical Examiners’ physician license application fee is $375, and a physician assistant’s is $375. A practitioner who wants to dispense drugs to the practitioner’s own patients must register with the Board of Pharmacy, dispense only at the practitioner’s office, only to the practitioner’s own patients, with an offer of counseling, and only drugs necessary to the treatment; the registration is $240 with a $150 annual renewal, and a registrant who compounds must do so under the pharmacy compounding rule. A medical practitioner other than a pharmacist may not own a community pharmacy, and that prohibition does not stop a practitioner dispensing a drug the dispensing statute permits; the rebate ban is not carved out that way — no medical practitioner may solicit or receive a rebate, refund, discount, commission, or other valuable consideration from a community pharmacy based on drug sales to the practitioner’s patients.

  • The department may issue two kinds of licenses, a physician's license and a resident license. Those are the only licenses Title 37, chapter 3 of the Montana Code Annotated creates; nothing in the chapter or in the Board of Medical Examiners’ rules in Title 24, chapter 156 of the Administrative Rules of Montana licenses a facility, and Montana issues no license or registration specific to a medical spa. A place where esthetics is practiced for compensation is licensed as a salon or shop under the cosmetology chapter.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-3-301(2) (Title 37, ch. 3 and ARM Title 24, ch. 156 surveyed)

  • The Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists sets its license fees in a rule, in dollars. (1) Original and renewal license to practice barbering, barbering nonchemical, cosmetology, electrology, esthetics, and manicuring $100. (2) Original and renewal teacher license $115. (3) Original and renewal school license $220. (4) Additional courses within a cosmetology school $70. (5) School/course inspection $200. (6) Original and renewal salon or shop license $125. (7) Salon or shop inspection $150. (8) Original and renewal booth rental license $95.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.121.401(1)-(8)

  • A person may operate or manage a salon or shop with a license or a provisional license as provided in 37-31-312 . (5) A person may not manage or operate a booth without a booth rental license. (6) A person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity desiring to operate a salon, shop, or booth shall apply to the department for a license. The application must be accompanied by the license fee. (7) A license may be issued when the inspection fees required in 37-31-312 have been paid.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-31-302(4)-(7)

  • Fees for licenses must be paid to the department in amounts prescribed by the board by rule. (2) The license fees must be paid in advance to the department unless otherwise prescribed by the board by rule. (3) Other or additional license fees may not be imposed by a municipal corporation or other political subdivision of this state to practice under this chapter.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-31-323

  • No other businesses or services outside the scopes of practice licensed by the board may be conducted or provided in any licensed premises unless that area is separated by at least a full-length partition.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.121.407(2)

  • Initial and active license renewal application fees: (a) Dietitian $75 (b) Dietitian privilege to practice via compact 75 (c) Physician license application fee 375 (d) Physician letter of qualification for interstate compact 300 (e) Resident 75 (f) Podiatrist 375 (g) Podiatrist ankle surgery certification 75 (h) Nutritionist 75 (i) Physician assistant 375

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.156.409(1)

  • a medical practitioner may dispense drugs if the practitioner: (a) registers with the board of pharmacy provided for in 2-15-1733 ; and (b) complies with the requirements of this section. (2) (a) Drugs dispensed by a medical practitioner must be: (i) dispensed by the practitioner at the practitioner's office or place of practice; (ii) dispensed only to the practitioner's own patients; (iii) dispensed with the offer of counseling from the practitioner; and (iv) necessary in the treatment of the condition for which the practitioner is attending the patient.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-2-104(1)-(2)(a)

  • A medical practitioner registering with the board of pharmacy shall pay a fee established by the board by rule. The fee must be paid at the time of registration and on each renewal of the practitioner's license.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-2-104(6)

  • (17) Drugs dispensed by a medical practitioner initial registration - $240. (18) Drugs dispensed by a medical practitioner annual renewal fee - $150.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.174.401(17)-(18)

  • A Montana medical practitioner registered to dispense must, when dispensing, also compound only as the pharmacy rules allow. A registrant shall comply with all federal and state statutes and regulations regarding dispensing of prescription drugs, including all requirements for the registrant to: (e) compound drug products, including non-sterile and sterile products, pursuant to ARM 24.174.841 ;

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.174.1802(2), (2)(e)

  • It is unlawful for a medical practitioner other than a pharmacist to own, directly or indirectly, a community pharmacy. This subsection does not prohibit a medical practitioner from dispensing a drug that the medical practitioner is permitted to dispense under 37-2-104 . (2) It is unlawful for a medical practitioner, directly or indirectly, to solicit or to knowingly receive from a community pharmacy or for a community pharmacy knowingly to pay or promise to pay to a medical practitioner any rebate, refund, discount, commission, or other valuable consideration for, on account of, or based upon income received or resulting from the sale or furnishing by the community pharmacy of drugs to patients of a medical practitioner.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-2-103(1)-(2)

Advertising rules8 cited rules

The uniform licensing statute makes a misleading, deceptive, false, or fraudulent advertisement or other representation in the conduct of the profession unprofessional conduct for every Title 37 licensee, and separately reaches a document or statement the licensee knows or ought to know is false or misleading.

Disciplinary landscape10 cited rules

The uniform licensing statute supplies the grounds and sanctions, and the four boards cited here each add a list of their own. The uniform provisions make conduct below the generally accepted standards of practice and any violation of a law or rule relating to the profession unprofessional conduct; on a finding of unprofessional conduct a board may revoke or suspend the license, impose probation of up to three years, restrict the practice, require monitoring or remedial education, and fine up to $5,000 per violation. Anyone may file a written complaint with the department, which investigates with the concurrence of a screening-panel member, and the department may investigate a physician on reason to suspect unprofessional conduct or practice on a suspended license. The Board of Medical Examiners adds diverting a controlled substance outside legitimate practice and terminating a patient relationship without written notice; the Board of Nursing adds unsafe judgment and practicing without a current license; the Board of Pharmacy adds dispensing without authorization and trading drug samples; and the Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists may refuse, revoke, or suspend a salon license for failure to comply with the chapter or its sanitary rules, or for gross malpractice. On the cosmetology side the prohibition is flat: without an appropriate license under that chapter it is unlawful to practice esthetics for compensation, and unlawful to own, manage, or operate a salon, shop, booth, or school. A fraudulent course of conduct under the Consumer Protection Act is a crime punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to a year of imprisonment, or both.

  • (t) conduct that does not meet the generally accepted standards of practice. (v) violating a federal, state, or local law or rule relating to the conduct of the profession or occupation.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-1-316(1)(t), (v)

  • On a decision that a licensee or license applicant has committed unprofessional conduct as provided in 37-1-316 , or on stipulation of the parties, the board may order one or any combination of the following sanctions that are necessary to protect the public: (a) revocation of the license; (b) suspension of the license for a fixed or indefinite term; (c) compliance with the conditions of probation for a period not to exceed 3 years; (d) restriction or limitation of the practice; (e) monitoring of the practice by a supervisor approved by the disciplining authority; (f) satisfactory completion of a specific program of remedial education or treatment; (g) payment of a fine not to exceed $5,000 for each violation. Fines must be deposited in the state general fund.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-1-312(1)(a)-(g)

  • a person, government, or private entity may submit a written complaint to the department charging a licensee or license applicant with a violation of this part and specifying the grounds for the complaint. (2) (a) If the department receives a written complaint or otherwise obtains information that a licensee or license applicant may have committed a violation of this part, the department may, with the concurrence of a member of the screening panel established in 37-1-307 , investigate to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the licensee or license applicant has committed the violation.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-1-308(1)-(2)(a)

  • The department may investigate whenever the department learns of a reason to suspect that a license applicant or a person having a license to practice medicine in this state: (a) is mentally or physically unable to safely engage in the practice of medicine, has procured a license to practice medicine by fraud or misrepresentation or through mistake, has been declared incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction and has not later been lawfully declared competent, or has a condition that impairs the person's intellect or judgment to the extent that the condition incapacitates the person for the safe performance of professional duties; (b) has engaged in unprofessional conduct; (c) has practiced medicine with a suspended or revoked license; (d) has had a license to practice medicine suspended or revoked by any licensing authority for reasons other than nonpayment of fees; or (e) while under probation has violated the terms of probation.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-3-323(1)

  • (e) administering, dispensing, prescribing, ordering, or otherwise diverting a controlled substance as defined by the federal Food and Drug Administration or its successors, otherwise than in the course of legitimate or reputable professional practice; (g) termination of an existing relationship with a patient for whatever reason without verifiable written notice prior to terminating the relationship, and sufficiently far in advance to allow other medical care to be secured;

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.156.405(2)(e), (g)

  • (a) failing to utilize appropriate judgment in administering safe nursing practice based upon the level of nursing for which the individual is licensed; (o) practicing professional or practical nursing as a registered or practical nurse in this state without a current active Montana license or permit;

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.159.2301(2)(a), (o)

  • (f) dispensing medication without proper authorization; (j) buying, selling, purchasing or trading any prescription drug samples or offering to sell, purchase or trade drug samples.

    Mont. Admin. R. 24.174.2301(1)(f), (j)

  • The board may refuse to issue, may refuse to renew, or may revoke or suspend a license in any one of the following cases: (a) failure of a person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity operating a salon, shop, booth, or school to comply with this chapter; (b) failure to comply with the sanitary rules prescribed by the board by rule and approved by the department of public health and human services for the regulation of salons, shops, booths, or schools; (c) gross malpractice;

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-31-331(1)(a)-(c)

  • A person who engages in a fraudulent course of conduct declared unlawful by 30-14-103 shall upon conviction be fined an amount not more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, in the discretion of the court.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 30-14-142(3)

  • Without an appropriate license issued under this chapter, it is unlawful: (a) to practice barbering, barbering nonchemical, cosmetology, electrology, esthetics, or manicuring for compensation; (b) for an unlicensed student to provide services as a barber, a barber nonchemical, a cosmetologist, an electrologist, an esthetician, or a manicurist other than in a licensed school; (c) to own, manage, or operate a salon, shop, booth, or school; or to teach in a school other than as a student enrolled in a teacher training course.

    Mont. Code Ann. § 37-31-301(1)

Current as of Sep 20, 2026. Verify against the linked primary source and consult qualified counsel before acting — rules change and turn on your specific facts.

Who may perform it in Montana?

We hold Montana’s own written limits for injectable (neuromodulator, dermal filler), microneedling / collagen induction, mechanical exfoliation (dermaplaning, microdermabrasion) — read at source and cited. Check a licence against a procedure and see the rule it rests on.

Check scope in Montana →

Montana med spa compliance — FAQ

Where do Montana med spa and injectable regulations come from?
Montana med spas and injectors are governed by a mix of state and federal authorities — the Montana legislature, and the state's boards of nursing, medicine, and pharmacy, alongside federal bodies like the FDA and the Federal Register. MedSpaRadar monitors all of them for Montana and flags what changed in plain language.
Does the FDA's GLP-1 compounding guidance apply in Montana?
Yes — federal FDA actions on GLP-1 compounding (semaglutide, tirzepatide) apply nationwide, including in Montana. We track those federal changes alongside any Montana-specific rules so you see the full picture for your practice.
How do I keep up with Montana regulatory changes?
MedSpaRadar sends a free weekly Brief on what changed across Montana, the FDA, and the Federal Register. Members get the exact "what to do" for their states in one daily email. It's regulatory monitoring, not legal advice.

Get Montana changes as they publish

We scan the Montana legislature and licensing boards daily, plus the FDA and the Federal Register. Free weekly Brief — what changed, in plain language, with the source.

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← All states · 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.