In early 2024, a member of Howard Forman's family visited an intravenous (IV) hydration spa, a kind of wellness clinic that administers treatment for a variety of conditions - from hangovers to fatigue - by injecting vitamins, minerals, and other chemicals directly into a customer's bloodstream. Before that he'd never paid much attention to these clinics, although they have emerged into a booming industry, bringing in millions of dollars in the U.S. annually.
This prompted Forman, a professor at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), to begin researching these IV hydration spas - and what he discovered concerned him. While the spas market their treatments as cures for a variety of conditions, Forman says, there's limited evidence to back up these claims; in fact, they often operate with almost no oversight.
In a new Yale study, Forman and a team of Yale researchers report that state-level policies governing IV hydration spas and facility practices vary widely, suggesting more stringent oversight may be necessary to protect public health.
"IV hydration spas are generally lightly or unregulated with regard to offerings and oversight," said Forman, professor of radiology and biomedical imaging and of public health (health policy) at YSM. "They provide many therapies that are unproven - or, frankly, even risky in certain circumstances.
"Consumers should be very wary of paying often high fees for services that might appear to be clinically appropriate but generally are not offered by trained clinicians or even overseen by them," added Forman, who also has affiliations with Yale School of Management and the Department of Economics in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
The study appears in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
The number of IV hydration spas has grown over the past decade. In 2022, the larger medical spa industry - which includes equipment such as infusion pumps and IV catheters - brought in about $15 billion in revenue, with about 10% generated from IV hydration spas themselves. These spas are defined as any commercial facility that offers IV infusion therapies to the public, including hydration solutions alone or combined with electrolytes; vitamins; compounded drugs like GLP-1s; and other supplemental amino acids and minerals.
While IV hydration spas market these treatments as cures for dehydration, hangovers, colds, and other conditions. There is little evidence that these therapies benefit consumers, coupled with rising concerns about their safety following reports of infections and contaminated products. Despite some high-profile incidents that have raised concerns about safety and oversight, there has been limited scrutiny of the IV hydration spa industry.
