Illinois' Botox health scare: Two patients are hospitalized after dodgy ... trends now
Two people in Illinois were hospitalized with facial paralysis and trouble breathing after being injected with potentially bogus Botox.
The patients in LaSalle County presented to the hospital with symptoms including blurred or double vision, droopy face, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and hoarse voice, after receiving shots from a nurse 'who was performing work outside her authority.'
The key ingredient in Botox injections, widely loved for their ability to paralyze facial muscles and smooth out wrinkles, is botulinum toxin, one of the most poisonous biological substances known to man.
Botulism is a neurotoxin that can cause paralysis, difficulty breathing, and even death if injected improperly or at too high a dosage.
FDA-approved Botox is generally considered safe and complications are rare, but the state public health agency have warned hospitals to 'be on heightened alert' for similar cases of a botulism-like disease from botched injections.
It's not clear how many people were injected with what could have been counterfeit Botox by a nurse not authorized to do so, but the Illinois public health department has warned area hospitals to be on heightened alert for similar cases of a botulism-like illness
Botox is typically safe but complications can occur if injected improperly or at the wrong dose. Whitney Buha, 34, from Chicago, Illinois, is pictured with a droopy eyelid after getting Botox
Both patients in Illinois, whom the Illinois Department of Public Health has not identified, were injected by a nurse licensed to practice in the county, but who was unauthorized to do so.
The injections were either Botox or a counterfeit. Health officials have not confirmed either.
If the injections were, in fact, real Botox, it is possible that the nurse injected too much of it, which can lead to excessive muscle weakness and symptoms consistent with botulism.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr Sameer Vohra said: ‘Receiving these treatments in
