Who may operate a cosmetic laser in Wisconsin?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this — a cosmetology licensee's electromagnetic-radiation or thermal-energy work is a delegated medical procedure needing physician direction unless board-approved training keeps it above the stratum corneum.
⚠️ Wisconsin publishes NO cosmetic-procedure rule and no energy-device rule — there is no counterpart to Ohio’s four light-based lanes, Washington’s LLRP rule or Virginia’s laser hair removal training. A Wisconsin med spa cannot look up a procedure checklist, because the state did not write one; what governs is the competence test above and the general standard of care.
Wis. Admin. Code ch. Med 10 (surveyed via the chapter index) · verified Sep 2, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Wisconsin rules
⚠️ and the catch-all beside it is broader than the named list. The same subsection makes a delegated medical procedure of “any treatment impacting a skin layer below the stratum corneum.” Wisconsin then sets out a separate list of procedures that are delegated “unless the licensee has received formal training in the procedure as part of a board-approved curriculum and the treatment, as performed, does not impact a skin layer below the stratum corneum” — dermaplaning, eyelash tinting, microblading, electromagnetic radiation, thermal energy. Microneedling is not on that second list, so the training-plus-depth escape does not reach it.
Wis. Admin. Code § Cos 2.025(2)(e), (2m) · verified Sep 2, 2026
Delegated medical procedures shall be undertaken only pursuant to formal written protocols setting forth the nature and scope of the procedures delegated, describing the supervisory plan, and indicating any contraindications to undertaking the procedure; a laser hair removal product or device, or intense pulsed light device, shall not be used on a minor unless the minor is accompanied by a parent or guardian and only under the general supervision of a physician; and a licensee providing delegated medical procedures shall upon request make a copy of the formal written protocols available to the client and to the board.
Wis. Admin. Code § Cos 2.025(3)–(4) · verified Sep 8, 2026
How other states answer this
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- South Carolina
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- Texas
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- Wyoming
Related Wisconsin questions
- Does a med spa in Wisconsin need a medical director?
- What must the supervising physician actually do in Wisconsin?
- Can a medical assistant give injections in Wisconsin?
- May an esthetician or laser technician perform microneedling in Wisconsin?
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← All Wisconsin 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).