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Intravenous drips have long been used in hospitals to send life-saving drugs right into patients’ veins. They’re also a booming business in wellness spas, where customers are told that pricey IV cocktails can boost their immunity, combat hangovers or even offset the grueling side effects of chemotherapy.
However, medical experts warn there’s no evidence to back up many clinics’ bold promises — and there are a range of possible health risks.
IV hydration clinics are part of the rapidly growing medical spa industry, which exploded from roughly 5,000 across the U.S. in 2018 to nearly 9,000 just four years later. There’s no shortage of them in major Canadian cities either, with med spas typically charging upwards of $200 for customized supplement cocktails, which can include electrolytes, magnesium and various vitamins. In advertisements, providers claim they can help treat a range of conditions.
So who’s regulating this emerging industry? There’s no one regulatory body acting as a watchdog in either the U.S. and Canada, according to recent research and reporting by CBC News.
A first-of-its-kind research paper, published earlier this month in the peer-reviewed JAMA Internal Medicine, found that in the U.S., state-level policies — and clinic practices and claims — vary widely, with potentially dangerous consequences.
“They fall into a bit of a grey zone in terms of regulatory oversight,” said study author Dr. Joseph Ross, a professor of medicine and public health at Yale University.
“If consumers are going to go off and use these [IV spas], often without their doctors even knowing that they’re using these, we have to make sure that safeguards are in place so that nobody gets hurt.”
Complex regulatory landscape
The research team looked at state policies and guidance alongside provider websites, and conducted secret shopper studies involving dozens of randomly selected facilities.
Those studies found that while 86 per cent of the businesses recommended therapies targeting specific headache or cold symptoms, less than a third described potential health risks or required consultation with a licensed medical professional before providing an IV session.
CBC News found a similar landscape in Canada.
There are layers of complex regulations, and various licensing bodies, dealing with different pieces of the pie: the contents of the IV drips, the array of medical professionals involved and the safety of the actual clinics, such as ensuring tools are sterile. Given that patchwork approach across the country, there’s growing concern these sites lack oversight on this side of the border, as well.
“The situation here is actually the same or worse than in the U.S. in the regulation of these health spas, and particularly these new IV spas,” said Bernie Garrett, a researcher and associate professor at the University of British Columbia.
IV health products are regulated as drugs, must be authorized by Health Canada before being legally sold, and require supervision by a health-care professional, a spokesperson for the federal department said.
But while individual products are regulated, consumers are often getting customized mixtures. Ross, from the Yale team, said medical spas often act like compounding pharmacies, which can lead to contamination.
Oversight across Canada also involves different provincial regulatory bodies for the various medical professions involved — like registered nurses, physicians or naturopaths — which hold their members to certain standards of care.
While that means more eyes on the situation, Garrett said bad actors exist “in all health-care professions.” Regulators also have a tough time tackling cases of possible harm or instances of misrepresentation because they’re often difficult to prove, he added.
Complaints on the rise
The College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan made a statement in 2023 noting an “increasing trend of complaints” about unsafe practices at IV clinics and stressed that nurses providing private services need to ensure clients have a medical condition to receive treatment.
The College of Naturopaths of Ontario also operates an inspection program specifically dedicated to “intravenous infusion therapy,” or IVIT, which tracks and investigates complaints involving clinics operated by registered naturopaths.
One naturopath offering IV therapy was cautioned earlier this year after unspecified complaints about his advertising practices and the administration of “unauthorized substances,” public records show. Another was told to write a 2,000-word essay identifying what he learned from an “IV emergency course” and what changes he will make to ensure public safety.
Andrew Parr, the college’s CEO, told CBC News that health legislation prohibits the college from sharing the details of complaints and investigations. He stressed that its program works to ensure safety through strict standards, “set due to the added risk associated with this procedure.”
The college’s concern, Parr added, is situations where IV therapy is being performed by individuals who are not regulated health professionals, “as they may be putting their clients at risk.”
‘Not something you want to take lightly’
So do these facilities actually pose a danger to customers’ health?
Any intravenous treatment includes the potential for cross-contamination, skin or vein inflammation, and tissue or nerve damage. But Garrett, from UBC, said the benefits of regulated medical treatments — such as intravenous hydration given in an emergency department — typically outweigh those downsides.
“It’s not something you want to take lightly as a recreational therapy,” he said.
Texas lawmakers cracked down on IV clinics in 2025, spurred by the death of a woman who became unresponsive following an infusion at a medical spa two years earlier. (An autopsy report didn’t pinpoint a definitive cause of death, noting the IV therapy couldn’t be “definitely ruled in or ruled out” as a contributing factor.)
Meanwhile in B.C., a naturopath came under fire for giving IV infusions to a mentally ill man while he was involuntarily hospitalized, without his doctors’ knowledge. The patient’s mother filed a complaint after her son died from a pulmonary embolism in December 2019, five months after his last infusion, and alleged that the treatments contributed to his death.
Dr. Jessica Kent-Rice, a Toronto-based emergency physician, said in her experience, patients don’t often come to the hospital because of concerns following wellness infusions.
However, she said, “more serious complications such as bloodstream infections, vitamin toxicity, and medication interactions would not be unexpected.”
The Dose21:45What do I need to know about IV hydration and vitamin therapy?
Provider says risks can be mitigated
Some providers stress those risks can be mitigated when facilities are regulated properly.
CBC News visited Timeless Health Clinic, a private wellness facility in Mississauga, Ont., that provides customized IV vitamin drips from $150 to $300.
Naturopath and clinic founder Yelena Deshko said the facility has been inspected twice by the College of Naturopaths of Ontario and adheres to strict safety standards.
But she said that as the popularity of the procedure rises, she worries some facilities may be cutting corners or operating without proper licensing. A recent customer said she passed out during a session at a different clinic after being given an IV drip from a frozen, premixed bag that hadn’t fully thawed, Deshko recalled.
“This really concerns us as providers of this treatment, because it can be very dangerous for the patient.”
‘Health scam’
Possible health risks aside, Garrett stressed that many of these spas’ wide-ranging claims are simply marketing tactics where potential benefits might exist, but there’s no reliable scientific evidence to back that up.
“Basically, it’s a health scam,” he said.
Under normal circumstances, Ross said, no one actually needs basic IV hydration, either.
“When you need it for medical reasons, it’s usually because of pretty severe vomiting or diarrhea … and in those cases, other issues may be at play, like electrolyte imbalances and kidney issues, so you want to be getting care from a licensed professional.”
A safer option to combat run-of-the-mill hangovers or headaches? Just drink hydrating, healthy beverages, suggested Ross — no out-of-pocket injections required.
