IV therapies services are becoming more and more popular. It is not surprising, since these treatments are supposed to be an effective way to treat meany diseases as well as to improve one’s wellness and wellbeing. However, as a medical treatment, IV therapies are often restricted by many legal regulations. This article will focus on the IV therapy laws in California – read it if you are interested in how IV therapies work in this state.

IV laws in California – Who Should Administer the Treatment?

The first aspect that needs to be considered is who should inject the IVs. The California law is clear in this case – an IV therapy should be administered by a nurse. This obligation is stated in California Nursing Practice Act:

‘A health facility licensed pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or (f), of Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code shall not assign unlicensed personnel to perform nursing functions in lieu of a registered nurse and may not allow unlicensed personnel to perform functions under the direct clinical supervision of a registered nurse that require a substantial amount of scientific knowledge and technical skills, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) Administration of medication.
(2) Venipuncture or intravenous therapy. …’

California Nursing Act,
Business and Professions Code Division 2, Chapter 6.
Article 2

Many nurses take up IV administration courses during their studies. Therefore, they are already well-educated when starting their career and are prepared to work with IV’s from the beginning.

Additionally, the IV laws in California require the whole process to be supervised by a medical director – this means that IV treatment companies need to be registered as Professional Medical Corporations. As a consequence, these business need to deal with a lot of paperwork.

Where Can the IV Treatment Be Administered?

This is the aspect in which the California IV law is unclear – it is not forbidden to administer IV treatments at home, but it is not directly allowed as well. Yet, there are many mobile IV therapy providers successfully administrating IV treatment in patients’ homes, hence it is safe to assume that there are no legal consequences of doing this in private environments.

Nevertheless, the IV therapy companies still need to apply to the other laws. So while you can have your IVs administered in your home, it still has to be done by a nurse and a medical director must oversee them.

Are There any California IV therapy Laws Regarding the Patients?

Actually, yes. Patients need to go through a proper interview before the treatment. The evaluation is required to determine whether the patient is suitable for IV therapy – this is especially important when the patient already takes prescriptive drugs – and whether the patient is starting their treatment willingly.

Can the IV therapy Law in California Change in the Nearest Future?

Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict what will happen in the future. However, since the law considering the location of IV therapy is unclear in California, it is very likely that something might change in this case – either the at-home-therapies will become fully legal, or the companies will need to administer IV Drips in medical facilities.

California IV therapy Laws Summed Up

• The therapy has to be administered by a registered nurse.
• TIt is unclear whether the treatment may take place at home, however there are many mobile IV companies which do that.
• The IV company is obliged to be a Professional Medical Corporation.
• The patient must undergo an evaluation before the therapy.

If you are interested in IV treatments, check our article: Does IV Therapy Work?