FDA Notice on Botox and Its Adverse Reactions

Filed in archive Cases , Consumer Alert , News on February 12, 2008

Hey, if you are a long time botox customer or if you thinking of submitting yourself to botox, hear ye: the US FDA recently notified the public that Botox and Botox Cosmetic (Botulinum toxin Type A) and Myobloc (Botulinum toxin Type B) have been linked in some cases to adverse reactions.




Such adverse reactions include respiratory failure and death - following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses.

In an early communication based on the FDA's ongoing safety review, the agency said the reactions may be related to overdosing. There is no evidence that these reactions are related to any defect in the products.

The adverse effects were found in FDA-approved and nonapproved usages. The most severe adverse effects were found in children treated for spasticity in their limbs associated with cerebral palsy. Treatment of spasticity is not an FDA-approved use of botulism toxins in children or adults.

The adverse reactions appear to be related to the spread of the toxin to areas distant from the site of injection, and mimic symptoms of botulism, which may include difficulty swallowing, weakness and breathing problems.

However, apparently the FDA is not advising health care professionals to discontinue prescribing these products, despite the issued notice.

C'mon. Would you dare use a product undergoing safety review? If you want to become another statistic, then go right ahead.

After all, nobody dies just because you have plenty of wrinkles! Nobody remains young and wrinkle-free forever. But then those who love botox because of the aesthetic value it gives them, may have forgotten the natural pathways that their body is undergoing as if having wrinkle will stop you from breathing.

Pardon the bouts of emotional reaction, I just find it idiotic that somebody dies on the surgical table in the middle of a cosmetic surgery procedure. But then that's just me.