CRAZED BOTOX DOCTORS: Better with toxins than al Qaeda men

US anti-terror experts love to bang the drum about bioterrorism. One of the threats said to be faced ad nauseum is al Qaeda's potential use of the deadliest poison known to man, botox, to sicken and kill thousands.

However, no al Qaeda man has ever been caught with the capability to make the poison. And none of their voluminous electronic papers wishing for it have shown any scientific savvy in the matter.

On the other hand, unscrupulous American cosmetic surgeons, in indictments which read as if torn from episode's of Nip/Tuck you haven't seen, have misused it for their own ends.

The case of note is one in which two Arizona erected a front company called Toxins Research International for the purpose of buying purified botox made only for research purposes. They then repackaged and resold it around the country, at a profit, to other cosmetic surgeons as a cheap knock-off of Allergan's FDA-approved Botox.

Their scam came undone when a doctor in Florida poisoned himself and others with the material, landing them in hospitals with cases of life-threatening botulism. They were put on ventilators for months to keep them alive.

The ramifications of the case and technical details on it were written about in December in Dr. Frankenstein's cure for aging.

Toxins Research sold a great deal of the purified biotoxin, shilled in anti-aging seminars, thus making sure law enforcement and the justice department have a long list of practitioners of cosmetic surgery to work their way through.

A television station in Houston recently reported two more indictments related to the rebranding of purified botulinum toxin.

According to the station:

Prosecutors say [prominent Houston cosmetic doctor] Gayle Rothenberg sold 170 patients what they thought were Botox injections.

A federal grand jury indicted Dr. Rothenberg for allegedly participating in the scheme with her husband, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said.

Dr. Rothenberg and her husband, Saul Gower, were charged in a 14-count indictment with conspiracy, mail fraud, misbranding of a drug while held for sale and making false statements to an agent with the Food and Drug Administration.

Gower is an attorney and office manager for Rothenberg’s medical clinic, Image for Image Enhancement at 2000 Bering Drive.

Rothenberg and Gower were arrested Thursday after surrendering to investigating agents at the offices of the United States Marshal at the federal courthouse.

They posted $100,000 bond each after making their initial appearance before a United States Magistrate Judge Thursday afternoon.

Rothenberg and her husband are accused of conspiring together and perpetrating a scheme to profit from the use of a less expensive and unapproved form of Botulinum Toxin Type A, by selling it to her patients as the more expensive FDA-approved Botox.

"They were told that other doctors nationwide were using it without any side effects," said Joel Androphy, Rothenberg's attorney. "And there was no action at that time by the FDA to prevent its use or distribution."

But at least two patients are suing her, saying they now suffer neurological problems.

Although I haven't yet had a chance to look at the indictment, eventually it will be posted.

In the case of the owners of Toxins Research International, all parties initially denied wrongdoing. The resale of research botulinum toxin, while not common, is apparently extremely profitable.

The station reported that the accused treated 170 patients, making $98,000.

The original report is here.

Update: Rothenberg conviction in botox trial from November 2007 is here. Links to indictment and notice of conviction by jury.