Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - January 6, 2002
Adrienne P. Samuels
This could lead to anything from HIV infection to hepatitis B, said Michael Spindell, the biomedical waste coordinator for the Florida Department of Health.
Many teens are not getting their bellybuttons, eyebrows, tongues and other parts pierced by licensed professionals, as required by Florida law. And many of those under 18 are skirting the requirement of parental consent.
Spindell said his Fort Lauderdale office got about 15 complaints last year, mostly from parents who said their kids were illegally pierced.
"About 60 percent are about people getting pierced that are underage," Spindell said. "Generally speaking, those occur in facilities that are unlicensed - in head shops, gothic clothing stores and some bars."
The state health department and Broward County are cracking down on illegal operators.
Florida law has two stipulations about body piercing: people younger than 18 must have the written and notarized permission of their parents; for people younger than 16, a parent must come to the parlor and show proof of parenthood.
Body piercers must be permitted and licensed, and they must use a sterile, new needle with every procedure, said Ed Golding, a state health official in Tallahassee.
Pierce parlor owners, who often run tattoo parlors as well, are responsible for determining the real age of their clients, though it can be hard to do in an age of fake IDs, Golding said.
"The onus is on the piercer or the operator to make sure that [the child] has the correct documentation," Golding said. "In many cases, kids lie to them."
But it's not always the kids who lie, Spindell said. In some cases, one parent will approve it, while the other disapproves. In others, kids lay blame on a tattoo parlor when really they pierced their tongue themselves.
If parents choose to sue a parlor for illegal piercing, they should be prepared for any kind of judgment.
"A judge must decide if there is parental responsibility," Golding said.
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