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CORRECTED COPY: FDA to Approve Botox Anti-wrinkle Procedure

Aired February 08, 2002 - 09:38   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: Well, it's not the Fountain of Youth, but maybe the next best thing, a popular cosmetic medical procedure that erases wrinkles is getting a thumb's up from the government. The FDA plans to approve the injectable drug Botox, a form of the botulism toxin, for cosmetic use. It is injected directly into the muscles in the face, paralyzing them and easing wrinkles.

Joining us now to talk about this rewards and also the risk of this treatment, from New York, plastic surgeon Dr. Debra Jaliman, and one of her patients, Judy Manning.

Good morning to the two of you.

DR. DEBRA JALIMAN, PLASTIC SURGEON: Good morning.

ZAHN: Doctor, we are going to start by once again putting up on the screen a before-and-after picture to give our audience an idea of just how dramatic the effect can be. In spite the FDA is now on the verge of approving this for this kind of use, you've been doing for years, right?

JALIMAN: That's right, I've actually been doing it my practice for 10 years.

ZAHN: And even though wasn't approved, you had no concern about the potential risks?

JALIMAN: Well, actually Botox was FDA approved in 1989 for use in neurology and use in ophthalmology. And as a physician, we have the ability to use what we call an off-label use, where we take something that is FDA approved and we use it for another use that we believe is safe and effective. It had been used in Europe in the early '80s, so I had trained in Europe, and I also trained with somebody in British Columbia that did use this technique.

ZAHN: Standing beside you is Judy Manning, a woman who is going to go through this on camera for us this morning.

Judy, you've done this before, right?

JUDY MANNING, BOTOX PATIENT: Yes, I have.

ZAHN: Tell us why? MANNING: I had this frown line in between my eyes from squinting and frowning and always having a headache, and it really bothered me. I always looked angry. So now I can be angry and nobody knows it. It really works, and it helped with my headaches.

ZAHN: You subject yourself to this every three or four months, because it doesn't last forever.

MANNING: Right, every three or four months.

ZAHN: Doctor, we are going to let the process get under way here. If you want to talk through us as you're injecting.

JALIMAN: Absolutely.

ZAHN: Judy can talk too about what she's feeling and whether it hurts.

Carry on.

MANNING: It doesn't hurt at all.

JALIMAN: I will tell what I am going to do. First, we are going to clean the area with a little bit of alcohol.

ZAHN: Does she have to be sitting straight up when you do this?

JALIMAN: She can be leaning slightly back. One of the important things is that we don't want the patient to lie flat, because if you lie flat, can affect the Botox. So we don't want the Botox to move to other muscles of the face. So we instruct our patients to stay straight up for about four hours. We don't want them lying down.

There are many misconceptions about Botox. Some people think you can't fly or lean forward or you can't try on shoes. But that's not really true. You just can't lie totally flat. So we tell our patients don't plan to have your hair washed or have a massage right after the procedure. Just wait four hours until the Botox sets in the muscle.

ZAHN: We will let you start the process here.

JALIMAN: What I doing now is I'm starting the injections. She will feel a tiny pinprick. And we actually do a series of injections. The Botox is a purified protein.

ZAHN: So it's bleeding a little bit.

JALIMAN: A little bit. There's tiny oozing.

ZAHN: That looks like it's painful to me. Doesn't hurt at all, Judy?

I guess Judy can't talk.

MANNING: Not at all. JALIMAN: No, Judy can talk. Does it hurt, Judy?

MANNING: No it doesn't.

JALIMAN: We paid her a lot of money for that comment.

MANNING: I have a very high tolerance for pain.

ZAHN: Does it feel like a bee sting? What does it feel like?

MANNING: Just a little pinch.

JALIMAN: A little bit of a pinch. We use a very fine needle. The needle is the size of a hair. So it's a very, very fine needle. And it's a slight bit of solution that is injected into each area. So most patients say that it's very comfortable, and especially after they see the results of the first time, they're very encouraged.

ZAHN: The only thing that is discouraging to a lot of people, I think, that would like to try this now that they're waiving this FDA approval is it's so darn expensive. Do you expect the prices to come down as more companies are introducing similar products?

JALIMAN: Botox? You know, it's interesting. Right now, Allergan is the main company that makes Botox, and they have worldwide distribution rights, and the cost of Botox over the 10 years has gone up to me and my practice, but with our patients, we've kept the prices the same. The interesting thing is you can get what I call bargain Botox, where it's less expensive, but I think your viewers should be concerned about that because oftentimes, the Botox is diluted. So it's a very dilute solution, and there are more complications with a more dilute solution. Also, it doesn't last as long. It can drift into other muscles and cause complications.

As you know, any doctor in the United States can buy Botox. So you want to make certain you go to a physician that uses Botox often, that knows the muscles of facial expression, that understands facial anatomy, has a lot of experience mixing Botox, as well as using Botox.

ZAHN: But as with every medical procedure, there is no 100 percent guarantee it is going to be a perfect result.

JALIMAN: No.

ZAHN: You've no doubt heard the stories about people who have had drooping eyelids and all that stuff.

JALIMAN: Absolutely.

ZAHN: So the bottom line is you've got to go to someone experience with this use of Botox.

Doctor, thanks. And Judy, you can move now.

MANNING: OK, thank you. ZAHN: You were a very compliant patient there. No frown marks there that we can see any evidence of. Actually, it takes awhile, I know, to act, but thank you again for letting us drop in on the procedure.

MANNING: Thank you.

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