Cheap, fake Botox administered by untrained facial injectors in places without a doctor on standby has become a dangerous combination that has landed more than a dozen women in the hospital.
In at least one case, a woman became so ill that she had to be put on a ventilator to help her breathe.
Seventeen women in nine states have experienced symptoms ranging from blurred vision to difficulty swallowing and breathing after receiving Botox injections they thought were to smooth fine lines and wrinkles. Thirteen were hospitalized and several required treatment in the intensive care unit.
ONE report published on Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided alarming details about patients in New York and Tennessee. A Kentucky woman was hospitalized in Tennessee. The women were between 26 and 55 years old.
Four women attended a gathering at a relative’s home in Tennessee to have Botox injected into their faces, including the lines between their eyebrows, 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,” said Dr. Christine Thomas, medical director at the Tennessee Department of Health and lead author of the new study. exhibition.
Thomas, who was an outbreak intelligence officer at the CDC at the time of the investigation, 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.
NBC News has learned of one of the most disturbing examples of botox-related fake injuries. A 49-year-old woman in Colorado received what she thought was Botox, but her vision soon blurred and her otherwise healthy body became unusually weak.
Nine days passed before the woman was hospitalized with difficulty swallowing and breathing. Her condition became so bad that 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 family member casually mentioned that the woman had recently had botox injections.
That likely saved the woman’s life, said Grace Nelson, a disease intervention supervisor at the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment who helped lead the investigation.
“The patient had reimbursement and was in poor condition for us to do an interview,” Nelson said. The family member’s information is what led Nelson’s team to step in and help authorize the woman to be given botulinum antitoxin to prevent the venom from causing further damage.
The woman ended up being hospitalized for more than two weeks and required further rehabilitation, Nelson said.
Doctors qualified to administer Botox worry that more patients like the one in Colorado will be injured, especially as unregulated medical spas have grown in popularity.
“I am extremely concerned,” said Dr. Kate Dee, MD and founder of Glow Medispa in Seattle. “As more and more people order fake Botox online, there could be anything in that vial.”
Fake Botox is not a new phenomenon, said George Karavetsos, an attorney and former director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation.
“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 deal with the influx of contaminated Botox, including arresting people responsible for the contaminated products in other countries, have been largely unsuccessful, Karavetsos said.
“How do you stop it? It’s education for the consumer.”
What you need to know when taking botox
There are several ways to identify potentially dangerous situations.
Ask to check the vials. Thomas said her team found spelling mistakes in the fake bottles. And according to the FDAthe outer box for fake Botox products:
- It lists the active ingredient as “Botulinum Toxin Type A” instead of “OnabotulinumtoxinA”.
- It indicates doses of 150 units, which is not a unit manufactured by AbbVie.
- It is printed in a language other than English.
Only get Botox in a licensed medical setting from a licensed provider.
“A cosmetology license is not a license to practice medicine,” Dee said. And if said Botox is administered in a salon, home or hotel room, that’s “a huge red flag because these places usually don’t have a doctor anywhere near them.”
Thomas recommended making sure providers are properly licensed in advance.
The Tennessee Department of Health, for example, has a link to search for licensed facilities, including medical spasin this condition.
Don’t be fooled by appearances, advised Karavetsos: “People walk in and see a man wearing a white coat. They see who claims to be botox professionals. They are unwitting victims.”
Be careful with deals that are too good to be true. One of the women treated in Tennessee “reported that they paid less for their injections than we know botulinum toxin costs,” Thomas said.
Dee said the average price for Botox is about $15 per unit, so charging $12 to $25 would be reasonable. This is not just for the vial itself, but also for supplies such as rubbing alcohol, gauze, refrigeration, and other medical facility overheads.
If someone is charging much less — $6 to $9 per unit, for example — that’s a warning.
“Nobody can do that long term and stay in business,” Dee said. “It’s possible these people are doing it illegally.”
