BOSTON -- So-called "medi-spas" are a popular new choice when it comes to laser therapy and Botox injections. And medi-spas are becoming so popular that doctors who initially trained in very different specialties are now performing the procedures.

Resources Board Of Registration In Medicine

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh went to a medi-spa and was surprised by what she found beneath the surface.

Dr. Richard Finegold is the medical director for Beauty Therapies. The spa was voted Best of Boston by Boston Magazine in 2004.

Finegold spends his days doing Botox injections and laser hair removal.

"I am a full time aesthetic physician, and I practice cosmetic dermatology," he said.

But his specialty was obstetrics and gynecology. He delivered babies for 20 years, and said he was ready for a change.

"Clearly, there's a lot more stress in obstetrics and gynecology," he said.

But what Finegold didn't tell Unruh was this: A check of the Board of Registration in Medicine's Web site found that Finegold lost his privileges at both Falmouth and Cape Cod Hospital amid allegations of improper choice of treatment, delay in treatment and failure to diagnose fetal distress.

"That is a rare event in Massachusetts," said Nancy Achin Audesse, of the Board of Registration in Medicine. "That is a very worrisome thing."

Unruh asked Finegold about his loss of hospital privileges and he claimed that despite what the Board's Web site shows, his privileges were not revoked. However, NewsCenter 5 confirmed with Cape Cod Healthcare that he no longer has privileges at either hospital. Finegold said he was a successful and excellent obstetrician.

But Finegold is named in two pending malpractice suits that are working their way through the court system. Attorney Drew Meyer represents the family of a child who died.

"Proper precautions were not taken and he failed in the very basic standards of obstetrical practice," said Meyer. "The result of which my client gave birth to a very severely depressed baby, severely brain damaged (who) lived for three years then died."

Finegold's record isn't the only issue. The issue for some is whether any doctor should perform skin procedures without formal training in dermatology.

"One of the ways that the health care system ensures that the right person is providing the right service is through credentialing and privileges process and the peer review process in a hospital," said Achin Audesse.

"I'm not trying to do full scope dermatology or plastic surgery. But what I do I know very well. I trained extensively and I'm very confident that I do a good job," said Finegold.

In Massachusetts the law said you don't even have to be a doctor to do laser therapy. But you do need to be trained, licensed and working under the supervision of a doctor.

That's what registered nurse and Beauty Therapies president Claire McArdle does. McArdle hired Finegold as her medical director. When NewsCenter 5 asked her why she hired a doctor who had lost his privileges, she would only say she wanted to withhold her answer at this time. And McArdle herself is under investigation. The Department of Public Health is proposing disciplinary action against her because of two complaints against McArdle's nursing license, the most serious being a laser hair removal treatment that the customer complained resulted in second degree burns and scars to her legs.

Even though the first complaint was made in 1998 and the second in 2001, McArdle said she needed to study the complaints before she can respond.

Just because a doctor is sued for malpractice or a nurse has complaints against her it is not necessarily a reflection of their competency. However, before you see any medical professional, Unruh said, it's a good idea to check their professional background on the Board of Registration in Medicine's Web site.

NewsCenter 5 heard from the attorney representing Finegold in a malpractice suit, and he said he does not comment on pending litigation.