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FDA Cracks Down on Illegal Botox Scammers

210 investigations of doctors selling counterfeit injections

August 19, 2008

• Plastic Surgery Group Pleads Guilty In Unlicensed "Botox" Case • Cosmetic Surgeons See Wrinkle in Economic Downturn • FDA Cracks Down on Illegal Botox Scammers • Do-It-Yourself Botox Not a Good Idea • Class Action Charges Botox Killed, Injured Consumers • Botox Maker Subpoenaed By Justice Department • FDA Issues Botox Warning • Public Citizen Wants Stricter Botox Warnings • A New Wrinkle: Botox Users May Become "Addicted" --- • Consumer Complaints

In November 2004, when four people became paralyzed after purportedly receiving Botox Cosmetic injections at a medical clinic in Oakland Park, Fla., the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) was called to investigate.

The four victims were hospitalized with severe botulism poisoning. The paralysis was temporary -- a result of being injected with potent, unapproved botulinum toxin. The doctor who injected the toxin had passed it off as Botox Cosmetic, an FDA-approved drug to treat forehead wrinkles.

What began as one OCI investigation of a Florida medical clinic escalated into 210 investigations of health care professionals throughout the United States. As of July 2008, there have been 68 arrests and 29 convictions of individuals who purposely injected an unapproved, cheaper substitute toxin for FDA-approved Botox Cosmetic into nearly 1,000 unknowing patients.

Under federal law, no form of botulinum toxin may be commercially distributed for use on humans unless it has been approved by FDA. At this time, Botox Cosmetic, made by Allergan Inc. of Irvine, Calif., is the only type of botulinum toxin approved by FDA to temporarily soften the frown lines between the eyebrows.

Botox Cosmetic is a sterile, purified version of the same toxin that causes botulism, a severe form of foodborne illness. When used in small doses, it locally affects the muscles' ability to contract, smoothing out frown lines to make them nearly invisible.

OCI agents traced the fake Botox Cosmetic used in the Florida clinic to a California laboratory that sold botulinum toxin for research purposes. The agents found more of the laboratory's research product at Toxin Research International Inc. in Tucson, Arizona.

TRI was selling the unapproved toxin to health care professionals as a cheaper alternative to Botox Cosmetic. In December 2004, OCI agents seized vials of the botulinum toxin from TRI, along with numerous marketing materials targeted to physicians.

FDA says the vials were clearly labeled, "For Research Purposes Only, Not For Human Use." Invoices and product information sheets carried the same warning. Physicians who bought the cheaper, unapproved product from TRI increased their profits on each treatment by charging their patients the same fee as if they were using the FDA-approved Botox Cosmetic, the agency charged.

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