Packets of counterfeit Botox have been seized by inspectors from Portugal’s Food and Economic Safety Authority (ASAE) from a beauty clinic in Lisbon – and the person in charge has been charged, ASAE announced on Thursday.
Inspectors seized “medicines, medical devices and apparatus – including a laser machine for removing tattoos, one used for cavitation and another for cryo-modelling – intended for aesthetic care without apparently having the required qualification for the activity”, ASAE said in a statement.
Among the items seized, valued at almost €34,000, was botulinum toxin, commonly known as Botox (a purified substance derived from the bacterium ‘Clostridium botulinum’, which produces a neurotoxic protein that paralyses muscles), which ASAE strongly suspects is a counterfeit medicine, as indicated by the brand’s legal representative, taking into account the characteristics of the packaging and the batch of the product.
