Mail Fraud and Conspiracy—Fake Botox

A husband-and-wife team of doctors have pleaded guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale for selling a knockoff of the anti-wrinkle treatment Botox.^[1] Chad Livdahl and Zahra Karim, both from Arizona, were charged with mail fraud and conspiracy when they sold $1,748,000 worth of Botulinum Toxin Type A to more than 200 healthcare providers.^[2] The toxin, which causes Botulism, is contained in Botox, but in much smaller amounts than what was found in the shipments sent by Drs. Livdahl and Karim.^[3]

According to the plea, the shipments were labeled “For Research Only; Not for Human Use,” but “emails and documents seized from the couple’s computers show” that the couple marketed the shipments through a workshop that claimed that the toxin could be used on patients.^[4]

The guilty plea, which cancels the doctors’ trial set to begin on Monday, was likely compelled when a codefendant, osteopathic physician Bach McComb, pleaded guilty last Thursday “for administering facial injections of Botulinum Type A into himself and three others” including Bonnie and Eric Kaplan.^[5] Mr. Kaplan said in an interview that he got the treatment because he wanted to look his best for the holidays, but within 24 hours of the treatment, he was having trouble breathing, and his vision was blurred.^[6] Mr. Kaplan is suing Dr. McComb, as is Dr. McComb’s girlfriend, Alma Hall, who also received an injection.^[7] Dr. McComb did not get his fake Botox from the same source as Drs. Livdahl and Karim.^[8]

Mail Fraud
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1341, it is a crime for a person to devise a scheme or artifice to defraud and then use the nation’s mails to carry out that scheme. The punishment for a violation of section 1341 is a fine, imprisonment for up to 20 years or both.

Conspiracy
We have previously discussed conspiracy here.

All three are scheduled to be sentenced on January 26, 2006, and Dr. Karim, who is a Canadian citizen, may serve her sentence in that country.^[9]

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[1] Ashley Fantz, Physician Couple Enter Guilty Plea in the Sale of Toxic Botox Knockoff, Miami Herald, Nov. 15, 2005, available here. (Registration Required)
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Doctors Enter Guilty Pleas, Orlando Sentinel, Nov. 15, 2005, available here.
[9] Id.