TL;DR: Stay away from this place. Here's the full story:…read more
I'm a physician. I have a teenage child who has a mild case of facial acne that has been successfully treated by a dermatologist who prescribed a regimen of topical prescription medications and short-term use of an oral antibiotic. After we relocated to NH, my child's acne flared up. Having run out of anti-acne medication and with an upcoming event requiring my child's skin be clear for photos, I needed to find a new, local dermatologist who could prescribe medications and who also had an on-site aesthetician. This dual service--prescription ability with an aesthetician--was a key consideration, as my child has a very full calendar requiring us to schedule both visits at a single time and place.
I called around to a few dermatologists and found many that had available time slots but none that offered both dermatology and aesthetician services--until I called Confident Med Spa. I spoke with a woman who claimed to be one of its two owners. She assured me very specifically that they had on-site both a nurse practitioner who was licensed specifically to prescribe FDA-approved anti-acne medications explicitly dispensed by pharmacies, and also an aesthetician, both of whom would be available to see my child in back-to-back sessions. So I set up the appointments to occur back-to-back in a single visit.
When we arrived, we met first with Deanna Nickerson, a woman perhaps in her forties. She took photos of my child's face and gave us her recommendation: buy a few of the Obagi products available on-site at Confident Med Sap. Aware of Obagi's business model--to sell ineffective, non-FDA approved products in expensive packages at exorbitantly high markups--I was very dubious. I told her that we'd be happy to purchase the Obagi line, as money was not a limiting factor for us, but I also wanted prescription medications for my child given that my child had responded well to them in the past and we had an imminent event. Deanna resisted this suggestion, invoking my child's young age and vulnerability to side effects, despite my child's successful history with prescription medications. Deanna kept insisting that Obagi products were "medical grade," a fabricated marketing term that she used at least ten times in an attempt to mislead us about the fact that Obagi products are *not* FDA approved.
After I further pressed Deanna Nickerson, she smugly looked me in the eye and explained that "as a trained professional licensed to prescribe medications"--those are her words--she was going to use her professional judgment to do what she thought best for my child. She agreed that if we were to buy the Obagi products, she would call us in two weeks, and if the skin still had not cleared up despite my child's adherence to the daily regimen, then Deanna would contact the Shaw's pharmacy, via what she claimed was electronic linkage to Shaw's, and provide us with a prescription for FDA-approved, medications for my child.
Two weeks later, Deanna Nickerson called me. I told her my child's skin had not cleared up. She asked me to email photos proving this claim, and I did so. I then reminded her about our agreement, and asked her to provide the prescription she promised. She resisted, saying that I should bring my child in for another visit and that my child should try some other Obagi products--"medical grade," again in her words. I reminded her again of our explicit agreement, of her repeated, specific claim that she had prescribing authority and could order that medications be dispensed from Shaw's, and of her claim that she would use that authority for my child's benefit if the acne had not cleared up.
She finally admitted that she was not licensed to prescribe prescription medications.
I immediately called Confident Med Spa and left an irate message demanding to speak to an owner. A few minutes later, Skye Morabito, who described herself as the manager, called me. After I explained the situation, she apologized and refunded me the full amount that I had paid Confident Med Spa. Skye seemed professional and polite, but I suspect she was motivated solely to mitigate reputational damage to Confident Med Spa--not to remedy the root cause by firing Deanna Nickerson and overhauling Confident Med Spa's approach to business.
Stay away from Confident Med Spa, and stay away from Deanna Nickerson. She is a dishonest and deceptive person who can look a client in the eye and make false statements as easily as she breathes.
