Dr. David Cary Hansen, a dermatologic plastic surgeon with a clinic on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, has pleaded not guilty to charges of substituting a cheaper, unapproved drug for brand-name Botox.
Hansen was arrested in December on 10 federal counts of mail fraud and misbranding a drug. He was released on $50,000 bond.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Janet C. Hudson said Hollywood celebrities were included in Hansen’s patients, but she declined to name them.
“These are overblown, exaggerated charges,” said Hansen’s attorney, Mark J. Werksman. “He never intentionally ordered or used any misbranded or unapproved substances on any patient ever.
“These were completely innocent acts by a caring physician who’s always done right by his patients,” Werksman said. “This entire case stems from the government’s complete misunderstanding of Dr. Hansen’s medical practices.”
Prosecutors say Hansen charged patients for injections of legitimate Botox, which is made by Irvine-based Allergan, but substituted a cheaper form of botulinum toxin type A.
Hansen charged $300 for patients who had wrinkle-fighting injections into a single area of the face and $450 for two. Hudson said.
Prosecutors said Hansen’s name was on a list of about 200 doctors who allegedly bought fake Botox from Toxin Research International of Tucson, Ariz. Toxin Research purchased the material from a Northern California laboratory, which had also supplied the toxin to a South Florida osteopath, whose injections of the unapproved drug infected four people with botulism and landed them in the hospital in critical condition, they said.
If convicted of all counts, Hansen could face up to 60 years in federal prison and fines of $600,000, if he were convicted on all counts.
This post includes information from City News Service.
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