bloodrayne
12-29-2004, 06:11 AM
Botched Botox Paralyzes 3
MIAMI- A shared quest for external beauty took a macabre twist when a financially squeezed doctor who lost his medical license injected himself, his girlfriend and another couple with the paralyzing botulism toxin instead of the low-dose derivative Botox.
The nightmare scenario is unfolding as federal investigators acting on a series of search warrants track the numbing bacteria and the intertwined lives of the four people surviving on respirators as the toxin takes its toll.
The sensational poisoning case at a Broward County wellness clinic raises questions about the lengths Americans will go to in the pursuit of youthful looks and the oversight of medical licenses by state agencies and toxins by federal officials.
"It's amazing, isn't it," said attorney Stuart Grossman, who sued Dr. Bach McComb, the Oakland Park clinic, its staff and two botulism producers on behalf of the other couple. "If we're talking about botulism injected into a patient, I think it's as rare as it gets in terms of that particular product. In terms of an unlicensed doctor still continuing to practice in Florida – very common."
McComb, who remains hospitalized in New Jersey, faces criminal prosecution for practicing medicine after his osteopathic license was suspended. The state suspended his license a second time and moved against two other osteopaths and a chiropractor at the shuttered clinic Dec. 17, the same day the negligence suit was filed on behalf of Eric and Bonnie Kaplan.
Botulism is a rare, paralytic disease caused by a nerve toxin produced by a bacteria that, in nature, can enter the system through food or a wound. About 8 percent of those who contract it die. For those who survive, recovery can take years.
Botox is a much weakened version of the botulism toxin and is considered safe. It is injected at the site of a wrinkle to paralyze the nerve causing the crease, smoothing the skin. The treatment lasts a few months.
But McComb didn't use Botox, officials say. Instead, he diluted powdered botulism intended for animal research with saline, creating a solution that was 10 times stronger than Botox, Food and Drug Administration investigators determined.
Thomas M. Toia, a medical technician and son of the clinic's owner, suggested the dilution rate was incorrect, but he said McComb brushed off the comment and told him he was wrong.
McComb injected himself and his girlfriend Alma Hall on Nov. 23, the same day the package sent by Campbell, Calif.-based bacteria maker List Biological Laboratories arrived at the Advanced Integrated Medical Center.
Chiropractor Eric Kaplan and his wife Bonnie received injections Thanksgiving eve, thinking they were getting legitimate Botox.
Eric Kaplan went blind during Thanksgiving dinner, Grossman said. The state Health Department says the clinic owner's, chiropractor Thomas P. Toia, and his son made a house call and treated the couple for dehydration.
Bruce Zimet, Toia's attorney, predicted, "All of his actions will be vindicated."
The day after Thanksgiving, the Kaplans were admitted in critical condition to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. McComb and Hall were admitted to the Bayonne, N.J., Medical Center after traveling to his childhood home for the holiday.
That the poisonings came in South Florida around the holidays came as no surprise. Many people go for Botox right before the holiday social season, the region is a leader is cosmetic surgery and other beauty treatments, and the state Health Department keeps two-thirds of its investigators in South Florida.
But Florida does not track suspended doctors, said Doc Kokol, the department's communications director. The doctors don't "go out and hang a shingle someplace" to advertise that they are working again, he said. "They're very deceptive, and we really rely on the public's input."
The FDA is investigating the poisonings, but it doesn't regulate chemicals for non-human use. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regulates toxins but at higher levels than the $500 batch bought from List. The company had no comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Investigators also found records of three deliveries to the clinic by Toxin Research International of Tucson, Ariz. The FDA said the company lied to the agency by claiming it hadn't sold the botulism toxin outside the research community.
McComb's medical license initially was suspended in April 2003 after he was charged with running a prescription mill in Sarasota, where he practiced at one point with his chiropractor brother.
McComb's attorney in that case, Dan Dannheisser, calls the charges "baseless." He notes a majority of nine physicians who examined the medical records found legitimate reasons for the challenged prescriptions.
Dannheisser said he was "certainly concerned" about McComb's medical condition but had no comment on the FDA investigation, saying his knowledge of it was superficial.
McComb was sued for malpractice in 2002 while working at a Sarasota sports medicine center. He quit running the Oakland Park clinic when his license was suspended but remained as a consultant.
The former massage therapist and nutrition consultant filed for personal bankruptcy last April, listing himself as unemployed with no income or bank accounts. He counted $415,282 in debts and assets of only $80 in clothing. The case was thrown out in September after he skipped two required meetings with creditors.
Eric Kaplan had stopped practicing as a chiropractor due to a disabling shoulder injury, worked as a consultant on the business end of medical practices and knew McComb through the clinic, Grossman said.
The Kaplans went to the clinic earlier this year for anti-wrinkle injections and came back for more, getting assurances from McComb that they were getting injections from the same batch he used on himself.
Michael Kaplan, who was home from college on Thanksgiving break, drove his parents to the clinic and watched as they received six injections each in the forehead, the bridge of the nose and next to their eyes.
One doctor who examined Bonnie Kaplan estimated her dose was three times higher than her husband's, the state said in McComb's second license suspension order.
"Recovery can be extremely slow" with paralysis setting in from head to toe, the order said. "Recovery occurs only when the affected nerves grow new endings."
Grossman met the Kaplans in the hospital recently and said both had improved but still could not breathe on their own. Eric Kaplan was "walking a bit," but his wife wasn't. She had surgery this week to relieve deafness. With some hand control, both wrote him notes saying, "Thanks for helping my family."
"How many people get Botox? Now my parents are fighting for their lives," Michael Kaplan said at a news conference announcing the family's lawsuit. "Who would have thought?"
MIAMI- A shared quest for external beauty took a macabre twist when a financially squeezed doctor who lost his medical license injected himself, his girlfriend and another couple with the paralyzing botulism toxin instead of the low-dose derivative Botox.
The nightmare scenario is unfolding as federal investigators acting on a series of search warrants track the numbing bacteria and the intertwined lives of the four people surviving on respirators as the toxin takes its toll.
The sensational poisoning case at a Broward County wellness clinic raises questions about the lengths Americans will go to in the pursuit of youthful looks and the oversight of medical licenses by state agencies and toxins by federal officials.
"It's amazing, isn't it," said attorney Stuart Grossman, who sued Dr. Bach McComb, the Oakland Park clinic, its staff and two botulism producers on behalf of the other couple. "If we're talking about botulism injected into a patient, I think it's as rare as it gets in terms of that particular product. In terms of an unlicensed doctor still continuing to practice in Florida – very common."
McComb, who remains hospitalized in New Jersey, faces criminal prosecution for practicing medicine after his osteopathic license was suspended. The state suspended his license a second time and moved against two other osteopaths and a chiropractor at the shuttered clinic Dec. 17, the same day the negligence suit was filed on behalf of Eric and Bonnie Kaplan.
Botulism is a rare, paralytic disease caused by a nerve toxin produced by a bacteria that, in nature, can enter the system through food or a wound. About 8 percent of those who contract it die. For those who survive, recovery can take years.
Botox is a much weakened version of the botulism toxin and is considered safe. It is injected at the site of a wrinkle to paralyze the nerve causing the crease, smoothing the skin. The treatment lasts a few months.
But McComb didn't use Botox, officials say. Instead, he diluted powdered botulism intended for animal research with saline, creating a solution that was 10 times stronger than Botox, Food and Drug Administration investigators determined.
Thomas M. Toia, a medical technician and son of the clinic's owner, suggested the dilution rate was incorrect, but he said McComb brushed off the comment and told him he was wrong.
McComb injected himself and his girlfriend Alma Hall on Nov. 23, the same day the package sent by Campbell, Calif.-based bacteria maker List Biological Laboratories arrived at the Advanced Integrated Medical Center.
Chiropractor Eric Kaplan and his wife Bonnie received injections Thanksgiving eve, thinking they were getting legitimate Botox.
Eric Kaplan went blind during Thanksgiving dinner, Grossman said. The state Health Department says the clinic owner's, chiropractor Thomas P. Toia, and his son made a house call and treated the couple for dehydration.
Bruce Zimet, Toia's attorney, predicted, "All of his actions will be vindicated."
The day after Thanksgiving, the Kaplans were admitted in critical condition to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. McComb and Hall were admitted to the Bayonne, N.J., Medical Center after traveling to his childhood home for the holiday.
That the poisonings came in South Florida around the holidays came as no surprise. Many people go for Botox right before the holiday social season, the region is a leader is cosmetic surgery and other beauty treatments, and the state Health Department keeps two-thirds of its investigators in South Florida.
But Florida does not track suspended doctors, said Doc Kokol, the department's communications director. The doctors don't "go out and hang a shingle someplace" to advertise that they are working again, he said. "They're very deceptive, and we really rely on the public's input."
The FDA is investigating the poisonings, but it doesn't regulate chemicals for non-human use. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regulates toxins but at higher levels than the $500 batch bought from List. The company had no comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Investigators also found records of three deliveries to the clinic by Toxin Research International of Tucson, Ariz. The FDA said the company lied to the agency by claiming it hadn't sold the botulism toxin outside the research community.
McComb's medical license initially was suspended in April 2003 after he was charged with running a prescription mill in Sarasota, where he practiced at one point with his chiropractor brother.
McComb's attorney in that case, Dan Dannheisser, calls the charges "baseless." He notes a majority of nine physicians who examined the medical records found legitimate reasons for the challenged prescriptions.
Dannheisser said he was "certainly concerned" about McComb's medical condition but had no comment on the FDA investigation, saying his knowledge of it was superficial.
McComb was sued for malpractice in 2002 while working at a Sarasota sports medicine center. He quit running the Oakland Park clinic when his license was suspended but remained as a consultant.
The former massage therapist and nutrition consultant filed for personal bankruptcy last April, listing himself as unemployed with no income or bank accounts. He counted $415,282 in debts and assets of only $80 in clothing. The case was thrown out in September after he skipped two required meetings with creditors.
Eric Kaplan had stopped practicing as a chiropractor due to a disabling shoulder injury, worked as a consultant on the business end of medical practices and knew McComb through the clinic, Grossman said.
The Kaplans went to the clinic earlier this year for anti-wrinkle injections and came back for more, getting assurances from McComb that they were getting injections from the same batch he used on himself.
Michael Kaplan, who was home from college on Thanksgiving break, drove his parents to the clinic and watched as they received six injections each in the forehead, the bridge of the nose and next to their eyes.
One doctor who examined Bonnie Kaplan estimated her dose was three times higher than her husband's, the state said in McComb's second license suspension order.
"Recovery can be extremely slow" with paralysis setting in from head to toe, the order said. "Recovery occurs only when the affected nerves grow new endings."
Grossman met the Kaplans in the hospital recently and said both had improved but still could not breathe on their own. Eric Kaplan was "walking a bit," but his wife wasn't. She had surgery this week to relieve deafness. With some hand control, both wrote him notes saying, "Thanks for helping my family."
"How many people get Botox? Now my parents are fighting for their lives," Michael Kaplan said at a news conference announcing the family's lawsuit. "Who would have thought?"