Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Botox Dangers

Saw this article today about a girl with cerebral palsy who died of pneumonia after receiving botox injections for her spastic muscles. Her parents sued Botox maker, Allergan, saying that an overdose of Botox caused weakened the muscles controlling her breathing. I won't debate the legal decision, although I would tend to agree that the drug manufacturer isn't at fault and so many other factors are at play when you have a fragile kid with CP and pneumonia. It just makes me stop and think. When HPEKid gets her botox injections Dr. S. always warns us to watch for labored breathing and makes it very clear that respiratory problems are a risk. With this article however, I am surely going to verify the dose that C. is receiving. Anything over 8 units per kilo of body weight is considered an overdose by the manufacturer. We've been feeling lately that C's botox seems to be wearing off more quickly and have less effect on her tight muscles (she gets Botox in her pectorals and biceps), and have been wondering if we should/could increase the dose. Complicating things for C., is that she also has the implanted baclofen pump delivering a different muscle relaxing drug to her lower extemeties, and labored breathing is a potential concern with balofen overdose as well.