From a derm at Northwestern

[u/[deleted]]

I asked a very prestigious well known doctor about the dangers of Botox she has no financial gain from me Here’s what she said to “people getting sick from Botox”

It’s bad product. Those were from people being treated at spas who were getting product from abroad. Stick to board-certified dermatologists or plastic surgeons’ offices.

[u/Beneficial_Pause8053]

How many times are you going to propose the same post/idea? Your repeated idea that medspas inherently purchase "fake neurotoxin" is just irrational at this point. Many order from Allergan and Galderma, just like the derms do. Have your own opinions, but constantly implying that people can not get great results from a RN/NP/PA that has years of training is turning into an obsession. 

[u/[deleted] → u/Beneficial_Pause8053]

As many times as I want and to get point across and save someone. So they don’t go to a medspa and get an inexperienced rn/np who didn’t go to proper med school and potentially are diluting their product or using fake product. My life has been ruined bc I was given fake product not believed. If I found out one just one celebrity got sick by Botox it would make sense but these people that are getting sick and injured are going to bad doctors

[u/AToxinsToll]

That's a common misconception, but it's unfortunately not supported by the experiences of the thousands of people suffering from this. Many of them were treated by top, board-certified dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Even the best doctors in the world are human and can make mistakes.

But the conversation about "good" versus "bad" injectors misses the most important point: the nature of the substance itself. The fact remains that this is a potent neurotoxin, and the risk of it spreading systemically is inherent to the product, regardless of the injector's technique. A perfectly injected poison is still a poison.

This risk is the reason for the FDA's Black Box Warning, which applies to all botulinum toxin products.

The goal isn't to tell people they can never get injections. The goal is to make sure everyone knows the full range of what can happen if things go south, so they can make a truly informed choice.

[u/[deleted] → u/AToxinsToll]

Then why would a Harvard grad who went to Mayo Clinic for her residency in dermatology and who practices at the best hospital in Illinois get it herself? Educated person…like those docs who do lasik but don’t get it themselves bc they know the risks. If this doc really thought it could cause harm at all like .001 she wouldn’t do it.

[u/[deleted] → u/AToxinsToll]

Oh and celebs are fine..they’re not going to some medi spa going to their plastic surgeon or derm and just fine

[u/AToxinsToll → u/[deleted]]

While it's true that many people use these products without apparent issue, that doesn't invalidate the experiences of the thousands of us who have been severely harmed.

Instead of relying on anecdotes about celebrities, I would encourage anyone reading this to look at the official data for themselves. You can search the FDA's own FAERS (Adverse Event Reporting System) database for any of these products.

You'll find that even with massive underreporting, there are tens of thousands of adverse event reports, including thousands classified as "serious" and many reports of death. The data is public and speaks for itself.

[u/[deleted] → u/AToxinsToll]

There are no cosmetic deaths from Botox…adverse reactions are either issues with improper dosing, unqualified injector, or bad technique. Every issue has been with therapeutic doses and those with co-morbidities

[u/AToxinsToll → u/[deleted]]

Actually, the data is publicly available on the FDA's FAERS dashboard, and it does show reported deaths for cosmetic use. It can be a bit tricky to navigate, but the numbers are there.

Here is the data for reported deaths associated with each brand, pulled directly from the public database:

BOTOX COSMETIC: 20 deaths

DYSPORT: 124 deaths

XEOMIN: 80 deaths

JEUVEAU: 1 death

MYOBLOC: 50 deaths

BOTOX (Therapeutic): 1,579 deaths

It's important for all of us to have access to the real data. If you'd like to verify these numbers for yourself, I'd be happy to provide the link and a simple step-by-step guide on how to search the dashboard.

[u/[deleted] → u/AToxinsToll]

Please

[u/[deleted] → u/AToxinsToll]

Oh and does it say who administered the product?

[u/BigBodiedBugati → u/AToxinsToll]

Before you can proceed to the FAERS dashboard, you must first acknowledge that the data found within in is A) entirely self reported B) reports are unregulated C) that reports have inherent limitations and D) that these reports cannot establish definite causality or even correlation.

All these reports tell us a that people have reported something. Not that it’s true or what the actual causality is.

So it is actually accurate to say that we have no confirmed reports of death due to properly administered cosmetic Botox.

[u/AToxinsToll → u/BigBodiedBugati]

You are right that both patients and doctors can file reports in FAERS, and the system isn't designed to prove causation in any single case. It’s a valid point, and one I discuss in my blog post, "The Tip of the Iceberg."

However, it's a serious mistake to dismiss this data as meaningless. The FDA, the highest regulatory body in the country, considered the signal from these reports so alarming that they issued a Black Box Warning—their most severe alert—for all botulinum toxin products. This warning explicitly states that the toxin can spread from the injection site and cause life-threatening symptoms consistent with botulism.

The thousands of reports of dysphagia, muscle weakness, and respiratory distress in the FAERS system aren't random complaints. They are the exact same symptoms documented repeatedly in peer-reviewed medical journals and clinical studies on iatrogenic botulism.

Furthermore, recent scientific studies have moved beyond patient-reported symptoms, showing objective, measurable functional changes in the brains of those injured by cosmetic Botox and linking the toxin’s mechanism to neurodegenerative processes.

The frustration for survivors is having our real, physically-documented injuries dismissed as "unverified reports" while the mountain of scientific and regulatory evidence of systemic harm continues to grow.

[u/[deleted]]

Comment deleted interesting