(July 18, 2011) Botox manufacturer Allergan Inc. is taking some heat again, this time by a doctor who claims they improperly marketed their drug. A California judge ruled that Allergan used false advertising as well as fraud-based unfair competition to promote their drug.
Ivan Goldsmith was approached by someone who worked for Allergan at his office in 2002 with an opportunity to invest in the drug Botox. This person, Christine Dijon, mislead Goldsmith to believe that he could use Botox on his patients and save money by using one vial “lawfully and safely on more than one patient, thus reducing the cost on a per-patient basis.”
However, Botox was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a single-patient/single-use drug only. Not only are Dijon’s statements immoral, they are extremely dangerous and false, and Goldsmith could have potentially lost his medical license for using the vials on multiple patients.
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez ruled that the “Plaintiff identifies the who (BDM Christine Dijon), the what (that Plaintiff can use a single vial of Botox on multiple patients and create a successful Botox practice), the when (in Fall and Winter of 200), the where (at Plaintiff’s medical office) and the how (that it was misleading to omit the fact that the practice was unsafe).” This clearly identifies the circumstances of the fraud involved.
He also states that using a single vial on more than the intended single patient is unsafe, therefore there is a duty to disclose that Allergan chose to keep to themselves. Because of this, the defendant’s motion to dismiss is denied.
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