FRIDAY, July 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Seventeen women in nine states got sick after fake Botox shots, with 13 of them landing in the hospital and one needing a ventilator, a new report warns.
In the reportpublished Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers provided disturbing details about patients who injected themselves outside of a medical setting and then became ill days later.
In one case, four women attended a gathering at a relative’s home in Tennessee to have their faces injected with Botox to smooth fine lines and wrinkles about three days before their symptoms began. An investigation later revealed that the injectable product was counterfeit and administered by an unlicensed person.
“In some cases, providers were concerned about patients’ breathing to the point that they admitted them to intensive care units so they could monitor them more closely,” report author Dr. Christine Thomassaid a medical director at the Tennessee Department of Health NBC News.
He called the situation a “perfect storm.”
“We were seeing injections being done in homes by people who didn’t have a license and there was counterfeit product,” Thomas said.
One of the most terrifying cases described in NBC News The report involved a Colorado woman who got what she thought was botox. Her vision soon blurred and became unusually weak.
It was nine days before she was hospitalized with difficulty swallowing and breathing, and doctors had to intubate her and put her on a ventilator to help her breathe.
They had no idea what was wrong with her until a relative mentioned that the woman had recently had botox injections.
This probably saved her life, Grace Nelsona disease intervention supervisor at the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment who helped lead this research, said NBC News. The family’s information prompted Nelson’s team to give the woman botulism antitoxin to prevent the venom from causing further damage.
Even so, the woman was hospitalized for more than two weeks and needed further rehabilitation, Nelson added.
Fake botox is not a new problem, George Karavetsossaid the former director of the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation NBC News.
“Counterfeit Botox has been in the US supply chain for at least 20 years,” Karavetsos said. “I have personally investigated and prosecuted cases of individuals who were either importing counterfeit Botox or making their own version of counterfeit Botox here in the US to sell domestically, to medical spas and other clinicians.
Efforts to arrest people responsible for contaminated products in other countries have been largely unsuccessful, Karavetsos added.
However, there are several ways to spot dangerous situations, experts said.
Thomas noted that her team found spelling mistakes in the fake bottles. And according to the US Food and Drug Administrationthe outer box for fake Botox products:
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It lists the active ingredient as “Botulinum Toxin Type A” instead of “OnabotulinumtoxinA”.
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It indicates doses of 150 units, which is not a unit manufactured by AbbVie or its subsidiary, Allergan Aesthetics.
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It is printed in a language other than English.
If you decide to get Botox, get it done in a medical setting by a licensed provider. Thomas recommended making sure providers are properly licensed in advance.
Don’t be fooled by appearances: “People walk in and see a man wearing a white coat. They see who claims to be botox professionals. They are unwitting victims,” Karavetsos said.
Pricing can be a big clue: One of the women treated in Tennessee “reported that she paid less for her injections than we know botulinum toxin costs,” Thomas said.
The average price for Botox is about $15 per unit, so a reasonable charge would be $12 to $25 per unit. Dr. Kate Dsaid a doctor and spa founder in Seattle NBC News.
More information
Drugs.com has more botox.
SOURCE: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportJuly 12, 2024; NBC News
