Guilty Plea In Counterfeit Botox Case

The press release is here.  Apart from the evident negligence per se issues, the facts could make for an interesting torts claim:

According to the Second Superseding Indictment, the conspiracy count charged that defendants Livdahl, Karim, Toxin Research International, Inc., Powderz, Inc., The Cosmetic Pharmacy, Inc., and Z-Spa, Inc., conspired to purchase 3,081 vials, each containing five nanograms of Botulinum Toxin Type A and other ingredients, in a formulation designed to imitate Allergan’s Botox®Cosmetic, the only product made with Botulinum Toxin Type A that is approved by the FDA for use in human beings. The defendants then engaged in a scheme to defraud by marketing and selling to health care providers for use in human patients the fake Botox as a cheap alternative to Allergan’s Botox® Cosmetic, without the administering health care providers advising their human patients that the fake Botox was not Allergan’s Botox® Cosmetic and was not approved by the FDA for use in human beings. The Second Superseding Indictment charged that health care providers then used the defendants’ Botulinum Toxin Type A on their human patients, despite labeling that stated, “For research purposes only; not for human use.”

The defendants’ sentences range from 180 days home detention to 70 months in prison.