The company selling the fraudulent versions of Botox goes by the names “Online Botox Pharmacy,” “Onlinebotox.com,” and “Onlinebotox.” At the time this alert was issued, the company did not appear to be selling its products over the internet. Instead, the company has been using “blast faxes” to solicit sales from medical practices, typically selling products at prices below those of FDA-approved products. As is the case with many companies that sell fraudulent products, Online Botox Pharmacy uses a U.S. return address when sending packages to medical practices, even though the products are from foreign sources.
Medications purchased from foreign or unlicensed sources may be misbranded, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective, and/or unsafe. Medical practices that purchase and administer illegal and unapproved medications from foreign sources are putting patients’ health at risk, as patients may not be getting proper treatment.
FDA-approved Botox for injection (100 units/vial), manufactured by Allergan, displays the active ingredient as “OnabotulinumtoxinA” on the outer carton and vial. Currently, there is no indication that Allergan’s FDA-approved version is at risk, and this product should be considered safe and effective for its intended and approved uses.
Suspect fraudulent products can be identified as follows: the outer carton displays the active ingredient as “Botulinum Toxin Type A”; or the lot numbers and expiration dates on the outer carton and accompanying vial do not match.
Thus far, the following examples have been confirmed as fraudulent Botox. Products with any of these lot numbers and expiration dates should be considered suspect.
Example 1
Lot # Exp Date
C3016 C3 (carton) 10-2014
C3121 C3 (vial) 04-2015
Example 2
Lot # Exp Date
C3060 C3 (carton) 01-2015
C3121 C3 (vial) 04-2015
FDA is asking the public to report suspect Botox products obtained from Online Botox Pharmacy or other questionable sources: Call FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI) at 800-551-3989, or Report to OCI at www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/email/oc/oci/contact.cfm1, or
Email – DrugSupplyChainIntegrity@fda.hhs.gov
Health care professionals and patients should report adverse events related to the use of any suspect medications to FDA’s MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program either online, by regular mail, by fax, or by phone. Health care professionals and consumers can either: Complete and submit the report online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm2, or Download form3 or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178.
REFERENCE: PharmaLive; 29 APR 2013
