Cosmetologist faces charges

A cosmetologist from a Costa Mesa salon has been charged with illegally performing a medical procedure using a laser on a customer that resulted in second-degree burns, the Orange County district attorney’s office said Thursday.

Tuyet H.T. Luong, 36, of Anaheim was giving a manicure to a client at MC Beauty Center in Costa Mesa when the client complained about a scar on her abdomen from a tummy tuck, prosecutors said. Authorities said Luong told the victim she could flatten the scar using a laser-type device, and the victim agreed to the procedure.

Luong covered the scar with a topical ointment to numb the area and applied a 120-volt laser heat device over the scar several times, authorities said. The victim allegedly complained of pain and said she could smell her skin burning. Luong said she was charged $500 for the procedure.

Three days later, the victim went to a doctor, who determined that the laser had created second-degree burns and that the area had become infected, prosecutors said. The doctor prescribed antibiotics. The victim told authorities that she returned to the salon, and that Luong took the antibiotics, crushed them and then applied the powder to the burn.

Luong is charged with one felony count of practicing medicine without a license and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury. If convicted, she faces a maximum of six years in prison.

-- My-Thuan Tran