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Heartbreaking, unsettling news from the Los Angeles Times: In 2007, Kirsten Spears — a 7-year-old with cerebral palsy — died due to an overdose of Botox, her mother alleges. The case is now before a court in Orange County.
Most folks associate Botox with Nicole Kidman smoothing wrinkles, but it can also be injected to relax the muscles of children with cerebral palsy and thereby ”help young patients walk without surgery.”
This is not the only pending suit against Botox, however, “[i]t is believed to be the first Botox case alleging a fatal reaction to reach trial.” The maker of the injectable, Allergan, said “Kristen died of a bacterial infection and … her mother cannot prove Botox killed her.”
Regardless, the trial is bringing all kinds of information to the surface about Botox — which sells $1.3 bil in product per year, according to the Times. It is also illustrating how, once again, the FDA has failed us:
Kristen’s death came more than a year before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered the labels warning of the drug’s potential to cause botulism symptoms, including “potentially life-threatening swallowing and breathing difficulties and even death.” (emphasis mine)
Apparently a letter was sent to Allergan in 2005 by ”a European health official” that warned the company that botulinum toxin — in fact a “powerful poison” — can spread outside where it’s injected and that aspiration can follow.
If indeed the drug is to blame for the death of Spears, I hope the truth will come out. Either way, the passing of one so young is tragic – our hearts go out to her family.
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Injecting botulism into your body can cause botulism symptoms? NO WAY!
Seriously though, that’s really sad, poor kid. I’m just sayin’. Not that counter-intuitive.
That was pretty much my thought too. Botulism from botulism? Bizarre, eh?
It’s pretty tragic that one of the only ways to treat cerebral palsy is with it though.
Agreed.
I have a hard time understanding why people are so shocked that somebody died from having one of the most toxic substances on earth put into their body.
It’s very tragic, but….is it really that surprising that something like this would happen sooner or later?
There are risks with any procedure. Often the risks associated with Botox or Dysport are less than that of surgery. I suffer from cervical and thoracic Dystonia, a brain condition that causes severe muscle spasms. I’m waiting for approval for injections after failing to respond to every treatment in the book.
I also went through the same surgeries that CP patients require to help them walk. (Cutting the calf muscle and/or the tendons to lengthen and allow a normal heel-toe movement.) It was very painful and required months of physical therapy at two hours a day. Two and a half years later, I’m just now being able to balance on that foot and run again.
The risks of the medication were made perfectly clear by my doctor. If the doctor injects too much, there is a chance of a reaction. Often the doctor will gradually increase the dose until they find the correct dosage. The only problems I have heard of had to do with the doctor increasing the dose too quickly.
It’s certainly unfortunate. And if there were risks not made aware to the parents in making their medical decisions, that is a problem. But in general, severe diseases like this tend to require treatments that have all kinds of different risks. Sometimes you decide the potential benefits are worth the risk. sometimes you don’t get lucky.
It’s unfortunate, but hardly unheard of.
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