The owner of a Los Angeles skin care clinic pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that she illegally impersonated a nurse, practiced nursing without a license and used a falsified state license.
Bok Soon “Linda” Choi, 57, is charged with one misdemeanor count each of practicing nursing without a license, impersonating a nurse and falsifying a state license. She is due back in court on Sept. 26 for a pretrial hearing.
Choi allegedly identified herself as the owner of Soho Skin Care at 300 S. Hobart Blvd. and as a registered nurse with more than 30 years experience while speaking to an undercover state investigator who was posing as a potential patient seeking Botox and skin filler treatments, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
Other state investigators stopped Choi just as she was about to inject Botox into an investigator’s face and lips, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
The undercover operation by investigators from the California Department of Consumer Affairs stemmed from an anonymous complaint received by the Board of Registered Nursing that nurses were performing laser, ultrasound and other invasive procedures without physician supervision at the clinic, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
Under state law, physicians may inject Botox or they may direct registered nurses or physician assistants to perform the injection under their supervision, according to the City Attorney’s Office.