Fake Botox on the Rise in US as FDA Warnings and Recent Arrest Indicate

In 2012, the FDA sent over 350 warning letters to doctors advising them they may have purchased fraudulent or misbranded injectable drugs, including fake versions of Avastin, Botox, and two different osteoporosis treatments. Now the FDA has identified another batch of fake Botox that is currently being marketed to doctor via fax blast.

On April 26, 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a drug safety warning for healthcare practitioners, warning them that fraudulent versions of the anti-wrinkle treatment Botox are being marketed and sold in the US. The Botox is being sold by unlicensed suppliers, and has not been vetted within the secure U.S. supply chain. They state that the FDA “cannot confirm that the manufacture, quality, storage, and handling of these products follow U.S. standards. These fraudulent products are considered unsafe and should not be used.

Womens health

Learn more ways women’s health is at risk from medication counterfeiters.Click on image for full graphic.

In 2012, the FDA sent over 350 warning letters to doctors advising them they may have purchased fraudulent or misbranded injectable drugs, including fake versions of Avastin, Botox, and two different osteoporosis treatments. Now the FDA has identified another batch of fake Botox that is currently being marketed to doctor via fax blast.

On April 26, 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a drug safety warning for healthcare practitioners, warning them that fraudulent versions of the anti-wrinkle treatment Botox are being marketed and sold in the US. The Botox is being sold by unlicensed suppliers, and has not been vetted within the secure U.S. supply chain. They state that the FDA “cannot confirm that the manufacture, quality, storage, and handling of these products follow U.S. standards. These fraudulent products are considered unsafe and should not be used.

The FDA reports that the counterfeit Botox is being offered for sale by companies using names that suggest the Internet such as “Online Botox Pharmacy,” “Onlinebotox.com,” and “Onlinebotox,” however the fake products are not being offered for sale via the Internet. Rather, the marketers for these fake drugs are offering them for sale at steeply discounted prices via faxes sent to medical practices all over the United States. The FDA states further that Online Botox Pharmacy utilizes a return address in the United States for all shipments, even though the drugs actually come from outside the United States.

The FDA warns medical practices about the dangers of purchasing drugs from unlicensed sources warning that medication purchased from such suppliers “may be misbranded, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective, and/or unsafe. Medical practices that purchase and administer illegal and unapproved medications from foreign sources are putting patients’ health at risk, as patients may not be getting proper treatment.”

In a different counterfeit Botox case, Christopher Carsens, owner of Orthopaedic Solutions in Alton, Illinois was charged April 3rd with distribution of foreign Botox & Juviderm products purchased outside the secure US supply chain, reports the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

According to KDSK News, Carsten allegedly used his company to distribute almost 6,000 doses of unapproved Botox & Juviderm imported from other countries. Carsten is accused of using Fed Ex to distribute the unapproved Botox and Juviderm to doctors’ offices and obfuscating the drugs’ foreign origin, reports the DOJ.

Carsten and Orthopaedic Solutions are accused of operating this counterfeit Botox and Juviderm scam for 4 years, allegedly making over $3 million between 2008 and 2001, reports the DOJ. The DOJ is seeking forfeiture of all proceeds from the scheme, including any property purchased with the profits of this operation.

By S. Imber