The March 2002 Lawrence Summers Memorial Award* goes to Allergan, Inc. of Irvine, California for its injectable drug known as Botox.

About Botox, the New York Times reported in February 2002: “Without a peep of promotion, it has become the most popular cosmetic medical procedure in the country, despite the fact that it involves injecting the neurotoxin that causes botulism directly into muscles in the face, paralyzing them and thus erasing wrinkles.”

Botox has been available for a decade, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to the product to treat eye muscle spasms. Cosmetic use is an “off-label” use which the manufacturer cannot promote, but which is legal.

Now Botox is on the verge of achieving FDA approval for cosmetic use, according to the New York Times, which will permit Allergan to begin marketing the drug for this purpose. Allergan is expected to launch a more than $100 million advertising blitz soon after.

“Botox has already worked its numbing magic on the face of America,” the Times reported. “Hollywood directors like Martin Scorsese and Baz Luhrmann [director of Moulin Rouge] have complained that Botox is so popular among actors that it is playing havoc with facial expression. In a variation on ‘The Stepford Wives,’ it is now rare in certain social enclaves to see a woman over the age of 35 with the ability to look angry.”

Although there is supposedly no risk of becoming infected with botulism from the injections since the neurotoxin is so diluted, there are risks. “For example,” the Times reports, “patients are advised not to lie down or lean over or even tie their shoes for six hours after treatment, lest the toxin seep and inadvertently paralyze other muscles.” There is more: “Because Botox paralyzes muscles that create wrinkles, doctors said it should not be applied on muscles that move as a part of everyday facial expression. Otherwise, they said, it could cause a person’s face to look immobilized, and render it waxy-looking.”

Botox treatments last for three to four months, after which more treatments are required to maintain the anti-wrinkle effect. The cost ranges from $300 to more than $1,000 per treatment.

Source: Alex Kuczynski, “In Quest for Wrinkle-Free Future, Frown Becomes Thing of the Past,” New York Times, February 7, 2002.