The New York City Department of Health recently reported ten known cases of individuals developing severe illnesses after the purchase and use of counterfeit Botox. The products were promoted on social media, including TikTok, and purchased between May and August of this year. 

The NYC report expands on an initial memo from the CDC on three women, including a 29-year old woman from New York. The women reported seeing advertisements for home Botox kits on social media platforms, and purchasing them from the vendors over WhatsApp. The received products were reportedly unlabeled vials of white powder.

The individuals, none of whom were health care professionals or otherwise trained injectors, each self-administered the "botox."

Dangerous Effects

Symptoms for all ten of the known cases began within nine days of their injection. From the NYC report, symptoms “included dysarthria, dysphagia, diplopia, ptosis, shortness of breath, and proximal extremity weakness. All ten symptomatic individuals were hospitalized and received botulism antitoxin to treat suspected botulism. Among these, three required intubation and mechanical ventilation. None died.”

While luckily no lives were lost in this event, it does draw attention to the issue of influencers and others promoting off-brand aesthetic products. The substances received by the affected individuals lacked any of the information that a legitimate medical grade product should include:

• Product’s generic name
• Concentration
• Recommended dosage and instructions
• Expiry
• Manufacturer and lot number
• Safety information, including warnings and potential side effects

This makes it difficult to verify the substance or track its source. The CDC warns that medications “including BoNT, that are purchased from unlicensed sources such as online retailers might be misbranded, mislabeled or unlabeled, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored or transported, ineffective, or unsafe.”

Responsibilities of Med Spa Professionals

Adverse outcomes are damaging to the reputation of the industry. It is important for professionals in medical aesthetics to remind their patients that their treatments are indeed medical. Patients and others interested in receiving injectables should be educated on the dangers of receiving care from unlicensed or untrained providers. Patient safety is the number one priority of all responsible owners and injectors. 

Read here for more on what patients should know before receiving treatment.