Can a medical assistant give injections in New Mexico?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this — they only bar injectables in a medical assistant's device protocol (pre/post care must be topical) and bar a licensee in an aesthetic healthcare facility from delegating procedures to anyone not licensed in healthcare.
Delegation of healthcare and non-healthcare duties to licensed or unlicensed individuals must be done with care and only when the licensee has ascertained that the scope of practice, education, training, and experience of the individual is appropriate and sufficient to provide adequate care to the patient. The delegating licensee must take into consideration that individuals with the same license may not have the same qualifications or competencies. Delegation of aesthetic healthcare procedures cannot be delegated by a licensee to any individual who is not licensed in a healthcare profession.
16.12.14.10(E) NMAC (Patient care — delegation) · verified Sep 4, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related New Mexico rules
The use of medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices is the practice of medicine as defined in Section 61-6-1 NMSA 1978. A. Limitations. (1) Medical assistants are limited to using medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices that are non-incisive and non-ablative. (2) Medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices may only be used by a medical assistant who is certified pursuant to Subsection D of 16.10.13.7 NMAC and when the supervising physician is immediately available on the premises.
16.10.13.8 NMAC (Use of medical therapeutic and cosmetic devices) · verified Sep 4, 2026
The supervising physician shall prepare a written protocol for the medical assistant to follow when using the medical therapeutic or cosmetic device. The protocol may include pre and post care treatment related to the procedure as long as the treatment is topical and non-injectable. The physician is responsible for ensuring that the medical assistant uses the medical therapeutic or cosmetic device only in accordance with the written protocol and does not exercise independent medical judgment when using the device.
16.10.13.8(B)(5) NMAC (Responsibility of the supervising physician) · verified Sep 4, 2026
How other states answer this
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Related New Mexico questions
- Does a med spa in New Mexico need a medical director?
- What must the supervising physician actually do in New Mexico?
- Who may operate a cosmetic laser in New Mexico?
- May an esthetician or laser technician perform microneedling in New Mexico?
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← All New Mexico 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).