Women tell stories of Med Spa nightmares

Patricia Rice, 44, enjoys walking her dog in the open air in her Tigard neighborhood. But there was a time when she couldn’t even leave her house.

For years, she suffered from acne and was desperately looking for a solution.

While shopping at the Washington Square Mall, something caught her eye.

“It’s a huge advertisement that says acne treatment and I said 'wow, this could be my answer,'“ said Rice.

The place she was talking about was Pure Med Spa, that offers services like hair removal, laser resurfacing, and acne treatments.

Rice met with an employee wearing a white lab coat and told her about her skin problems.  The woman recommended a chemical peel, which is when acid is put on a patient’s face to get rid of dead skin cells.

Rice emphasized to the employee that she had serious sensitive skin issues, but she was told that wasn’t a problem.

“She promised it was going to be a great treatment, “ said Rice.

Until Rice got home and realized her skin was reacting horribly to the treatment.

“It was burning, it was itching, pus was oozing out of my pores, “ said Rice.

She says she couldn’t leave the house for three weeks. She spent $600 on the treatment.

Dorota Snyder said she spent $2,400 on laser treatments, Photofacials, where she saw no improvements.

“It cost a lot of money and I didn’t see the fantastic results, “ said Snyder.

But Judith Guzman-Soriano had the worst of it.

She went to Pure Med Spa for hair removal treatment and one of her legs turned black and blue.

“I was crying and crying. I begged her for medication but she said we don’t have anything, “ said Guzman-Soriano.

Pure Med Spa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and in February 2008, a company called Brite Smile Brite Skin took over.

But a bankruptcy attorney said the company bought the assets, but it's not  liable for past problems.

A judge approved that arrangement in a court order.

NewsChannel 8 contacted the new company Brite Smile Brite Skin. A company spokesperson says it feels bad about the treatments done to the women and wants to offer corrective services for free.

The women we talked to are not interested.

They want their money back.

So what's a customer to do?

Doctor Michelle Vessely recommends doing one's research.

"I would not go to the mall for my medical care, " said Dr. Vessely.

"I would go to a place where there's a Registered Nurse on staff."

Judith Guzman-Soriano said she will never go back to Pure Med Spa.

She can't afford a lawyer to go after the now-bankrupt company and she feels saddened and stuck.

“I can never wear shorts again. I am so mad now, “ she said, “It’s not fair.”