Cosmetic Practitioners Take Huge Risks Purchasing and Administering Illegal Botulinum Toxin Drug Products

In their article "Importing Injectables" in the September 2014 issue of the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, Dr. Kenneth Beer and Karen Rothschild highlighted the possible harm to patients and practitioners from the use of unapproved botulinum toxin products - eg, Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, and Myobloc - and other cosmetic prescription drug products purchased from foreign or unlicensed suppliers.1 In the intervening years, the accuracy of their critique has been repeatedly demonstrated, as the dangers to patients' health, as well as to cosmetic practitioners' liberty, has only increased.