Plastic Surgery - Is Botox Safe?

I have had recent calls and emails concerning the safety of Botox.

Botox, as you know, is produced by a company called Allergan and the FDA has requested that Allergan include a strong warning about the risks of severe complications if the injected botulism toxin i.e. Botox spreads in the body.

The FDA said that this move was prompted by the fact that they were investigating several deaths and hospitalization of children who were given the product to treat cerebral palsy.

Generally speaking, in treating cerebral palsy the doses utilized are quite significant. Most of the time in adults it occurred after the treatment of muscular spasticity or cervical dystonia.

However, with regard to dermatologic use such as the injection of glabellar frown lines and crow’s feet there have been “no definite serious adverse events” related to the spread of the toxin. The FDA also said that “in the deaths of adults, it is not possible at this time to attribute them to the botulism because the patients also suffer from complications of their pre-existing conditions”.

Allergan released a statement afterwards that it would work with the FDA to update the label for Botox.

A new product recently receiving FDA approval is Dysport or Reloxin which will also have similar warnings.

For more information about Botox and other similar products, visit Dr. Brueck's web site, Beauty-by-Brueck.com.