A lawyer for a dentist who owns a medical spa – which came under fire from Government for allegedly not operating under correct regulations – claims health officials have failed to tell him exactly what is needed.

In the House of Assembly on March 7 Health Minister Nelson Bascome spoke about possible licensing infringements at the Azure Medical Spa, run by Dr. James Fay, who also operates the Paget Dental Group.

But yesterday Dr. Fay's lawyer Richard Williams said he had contacted the Dental Board, the Immigration Department and the Chief Medical Officer to understand what legislation Dr. Fay needs to comply with.

Mr. Williams said: "He is seeking to comply with all the regulatory guidelines and we are waiting. I have contacted the Chief Medical officer and the Dental Board and Immigration for the issues of renewing or giving permits. We are waiting for a reply."

During the House debate, Mr. Bascome said he believed the spa may be "operating outside the scope of their licences" and that the Ministry had been contacted by the spa earlier this year, and general questions about the procedures did not receive any "satisfactory response".

Linda Merritt, the chairwoman of the Bermuda Health Council (BHeC) and Dr. Richard Cann, chairman of the Dental Board, who also raised their concerns about the spa, on the same day Mr. Bascome spoke in the House.

In a statement, Ms. Merritt said: "The Bermuda Health Council would like to have collaborated with the entity to ensure that proper controls were in place for emergency events, vetting the credentials of professional staff, equipment maintenance and that the facility meets with the standards of any existing legislative provisions."

Yesterday Dr. Fay said he had never been contacted by anyone though he had made attempts to find out what qualifications he needed.

He said: "We have never been contacted by anybody at all. I had sent a letter and asked what qualifications I had to do for these medical procedures and have been pressing them to clarify what they are saying.

"We are trying to find out everything we can. We really cannot think of anything further and until they talk to us we cannot do anything."

The opening of the Azure Medical Spa which offers laser hair removal, Botox, facial peels, acne therapy, teeth whitening and more, was on February 22.

Owned by Dr. Fay, it operates with a registered nurse, a medical director and other specialists out of the same building as his other practice the Paget Dental Group.

It is the sister practice to the Azure Medical Spa in Atlanta, Georgia, which offers the same services under the guidance of Dr. Christopher Brandys, a general and vascular surgeon.

Dr. Brandys said he has been qualified from both the American College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons and with his consultant, Stephen B. Lober a plastic surgeon, has trained all of the staff in the Bermuda office.

He said: "We have a medical director supervising the procedures going on. In the US many, many physicians have branched into aesthetics.

"Even gynaecologists. As long as they go to the courses and learn how to do the procedures. It's not having them done by specialists you have to worry about.

"It's about the training the person has done. Some are done by registered nurses but they are supervised. We would welcome working with the government if they wanted to establish some standards for laser safety.

"That would ensure that everyone would be up-to-date with this procedure."

Dr. Brandys' refuted Mr. Bascome's claim that it would be like having a foot doctor perform heart surgery, saying it would be more like a heart surgeon learning to do these procedures.

According to the advertising supplement in The Royal Gazette, on March 6, Dr. Fay has more than 20 years of cosmetic dental experience.

Between 2005 and 2007, he received certification for laser aesthetics, hair reduction, tattoo removal, treatment of vascular lesions and skin rejuvenation.

He is also certified in Botox, dermal fillers, lip injections, microdermabrasion, skin resurfacing and chemical peels.

Questions to Mr. Bascome about examining the licenses of those working at the spa and further actions to be taken by the Ministry of Health, since last week have gone unanswered. As have those sent to Anthony Richardson, CEO of BHeC who asked that questions for Ms. Merritt be sent to him.

When Dr. Cann was contacted he said: "I am not in the position to discuss the matter at this time. What I would suggest if that you give them (Azure Spa) a call."