Quoted from http://www.ocregister.com/news/botox-254083-allergan-company.html
What Allergan doesn't want to you know about Botox
Published: June 18, 2010
Updated: June 19, 2010 8:20 p.m.By COLIN STEWART THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Allergan, manufacturer of the blockbuster cosmetic drug Botox, has downplayed information about the drug's dangers to avoid alarming consumers, according to public documents, court testimony and evidence revealed by recent lawsuits that allege severe or fatal reactions.
Botox is the world's most popular wrinkle-fighting drug, producing sales of $1.3 billion a year for Allergan. It is also an icon of social division in the United States. A person's attitude toward the drug is a litmus test that distinguishes people who are willing to go to great lengths to preserve their youthful looks from people who look down on artificial methods of fighting the effects of aging.
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Dr. Sharla Helton, of Oklahoma City, won a $15 million lawsuit against Allergan over the side effects of Botox, which she says left her in constant pain and partially paralyzed. A jury agreed that Allergan had failed to disclose potential side effects. The company is appealing. JOHN CLANTON, SPECIAL TO THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
In that social context, Irvine-based Allergan doesn't want consumers to focus on any possible ill effects of Botox or on the fact that it is derived from a toxin that causes paralysis.
"Botox Cosmetic is not a poison and is not botulism. It is a purified protein and a finished medical prescription product," Allergan's marketing materials state.
Yet Botox is a weakened version of what the Journal of the American Medical Association calls "the most poisonous substance known." Four-hundredths of an ounce of undiluted botulinum toxin is enough to kill a million people with the paralyzing nerve disease botulism.
Company officials say it's important that people not become so worried about the potential risks of Botox that they lose sight of its benefits.