July 15, 2024: What some fake Botox victims have endured
Major Stories
New details about victims of recent fake Botox and a look at CBP Cincinnati’s recent seizures.
The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) revisited the outbreak of botulism-like illnesses that sickened 17 women who had received Botox injections between November 2023 and April 2024. The article focused on cases treated in Tennessee and New York, where four of seven victims were hospitalized, and two were admitted to the ICU. All of the women had received their injections in non-medical settings, and tests of the remaining product in Tennessee found that it was counterfeit.
Additional coverage by NBC News considered 10 victims in additional states, including a 49-year old in Colorado who was intubated because she became unable to breathe or swallow as her illness developed.
Customs and Border Protection agents at the Port of Cincinnati continue to seize a variety of counterfeit pharmaceutical items including Botox and Ozempic.
A Virginia woman, who was not a licensed medical professional, pleaded guilty in federal court to purchasing non-FDA-approved cosmetic injectables on black market websites and using them on customers.
The New York Times spoke with PSM's Executive Director about the rise in counterfeit weight-loss drugs. Click here to read the article.
Domestic News
Pill press case news out of two states.
A federal judge sentenced a Vermont resident to time served for his role in receiving and redistributing controlled substances and misbranded pharmaceutical drugs, such as tapentadol, tramadol, and zolpidem.
Many U.S. consumers like the convenience of shopping online, but PSM researchers documented a disturbing trend of vendors on ETSY selling copycat versions of pharmaceutical products on the platform. Click here to read more about why these types of sales are a danger to the public.
An Asbury Park, New Jersey resident received a sentence of ten years for drug distribution and firearm possession. While executing a search warrant, police found a pill press and approximately seven kilograms of cutting agents.
Police in Chillicothe, Ohio seized a pill press as part of a narcotics investigation.
The state of Louisiana's ban on the sale of tianeptine will go into effect on August 1st. Governor Roy Cooper recently signed a bill into law that will ban the sale of tianeptine in North Carolina as of December 1st. Tianeptine is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Louisiana and North Carolina join a growing list of states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee, that have banned the substance.
A veterinary compounding pharmacy pleaded guilty to fraud and a former executive was charged for his alleged role in a scheme to illegally distribute medication using fake prescriptions.
International News
Charges filed in Austrian fake Ozempic case and seizures at two locations in Bangkok.
Austrian prosecutors filed charges against two men for allegedly selling counterfeit Ozempic to a doctor in Salzburg. The fakes contained insulin and harmed three women who received them.
Authorities in Northern Ireland reported that investigators have looked into 18 cases of counterfeit weight-loss drugs and successfully prosecuted one individual in the last three years. Four cases are still in process.
Police raided two counterfeit medicine manufacturing sites in Bangkok, seizing 26,000 items, including fake Botox and medical equipment.
Thai police displaying items seized in the raids. Source: Thai PBS World.