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American Morning

FDA Planning to Approve Botox for Cosmetic Treatment

Aired February 07, 2002 - 09:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: It is already widely used by the rich and famous, injecting in a toxin known as Botox underneath the skin, a staple for many affluent people who refuse to age. But the procedure was only formally approved to treat spasms in eye muscles. That is until now. Well, there is news today that the FDA is planning to approve the toxin now for cosmetic treatment.

CNN medical correspondent Rhonda Rowland joins us now from Atlanta.

All right, so it's here, and do you think more people are going to start using it?

RHONDA ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Already, Paula, what we understand is the year 2000, a million Americans were already using it to get rid of their wrinkles, and the Botox what we're talk about here is actually botulinum, a deadly toxin that can cause food poisoning. But here, scientists have harnessed it, put it in a bottle, and then they can inject in very small quantities so it's not harmful in various places on the face to get rid of wrinkles.

So what doctors will do is inject it on the forehead, in between the eyes, around the eyes, around the mouth, and essentially, what it does, is it paralyzes or weakens those muscle so you don't see wrinkles anymore. Essentially just erased. And not only that, it prevents new wrinkles from developing or from keeping them from getting worse, because of course we develop wrinkles from our facial expressions. So if you can't frown, or furrow your brow, or smile too widely, you can keep those new wrinkles from forming. That's how it works, Paula.

ZAHN: It's interesting that a bunch of Hollywood directors now saying that actresses are abusing botox and no movement left in the face. So it's not permanent, right? The results last for how long?

ROWLAND: It's only temporary, the paralysis that takes place. It can last about 3-6 months. Since it's temporary, you have to keep getting these injections if you want to maintain that unwrinkled look. So again, after about three months, the effects are disappearing, and you have to go back for more injections.

ZAHN: How much does it cost?

ROWLAND: It's pretty costly. For one treatment, it can cost upward of $300-$500 perhaps, up to $1,000, depending on how many of these injections you get. So in a year's time, you could be spending several thousand dollars on this.

In the past it's been called the poor man's facelift, because a facelift can be much more expensive, but if you get this, year after year, it can really add up and be expensive.

ZAHN: The idea of pumping botulism in your body gives a lot of folks the willies. Obviously, the FDA wouldn't be approving this for cosmetic use unless they thought it was safe. But what are -- are there any dangers associated with it?

ROWLAND: You can't get the deadly poisoning or food poisoning that this can actually cause. So you don't get that. But what can happen is if too much is injected, or if it's injected in the wrong place, you can get droopy facial muscles like your eyelids, and in fact I've talked to some people who had this done, and right afterwards, their eyelids are kind of coming down, and that can be a little frightening. Now this may only last a couple of days, but it could last longer, in some cases, if too much is done.

But what the company, Alergin, is hoping, is by having the substance FDA approved for this purpose, they can go out and train doctors in how to use it properly, so that they'll inject it in the right place, use the right dosage, because when you talk about cosmetic procedures, it's really kind of an art. So this will give the company an opportunity to train more doctors to use it right, and perhaps cut down on some of those troublesome side effects.

ZAHN: What Americans will do to fight aging.

ROWLAND: That's right.

ZAHN: Rhonda Rowland, fascinating. Thanks.

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