CDC expected to alert doctors about fake Botox

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is poised to alert doctors nationwide about fake Botox injections that have already hospitalized at least four people, it said Wednesday.

Clostridium botulinum is a nerve toxin that relaxes facial muscles that would otherwise cause wrinkles. Botox is generally considered safe, but too much in the wrong places can be damaging, according to the CDC.

The agency said Wednesday that it’s coordinating a “multistate outbreak investigation” and that it was “aware of a few botulism-like illnesses in several states resulting from botulinum toxin injections (commonly called ‘botox’) administered in non-medical settings.”

Health departments in Illinois and Tennessee have reported cases possibly linked to counterfeit Botox, with two people in each state hospitalized. Two additional cases were reported in Tennessee but weren’t serious enough to warrant hospitalization.

Dr. Adam Friedman, a dermatologist and professor and the chair of dermatology at George Washington University, said it’s difficult to ensure quality of products that don’t have reputable sources.

“You’re spinning the wheel of terror when it comes to these counterfeit products,” Friedman said. “If something seems too good to be true, chances are it is too good to be true.”

Warnings nationwide about medical procedures at unregulated med spas are rising. The Illinois patients received injections from a nurse “who was performing work outside her authority,” according to the state’s Public Health Department.

Patients “reported symptoms similar to botulism such as blurred/double vision, droopy face, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, hoarse voice following injection with either Botox or a possibly counterfeit version of the product,” Illinois public health authorities said.