Las Vegas-based cosmetic surgeon Stephen Seldon and his office manager/wife, Deborah, are on trial for signing agreements with patients confirming that he would use Botox, but instead injecting them with a cheaper, nongovernment-approved product called TRItox. (Hat Tip: Las Vegas Review Journal.)
The couple is charged with mail fraud and misbranding a drug held for sale. According to the government, during a 1-year period that ended in October 2004, the couple purchased 19,000 units of TRItox for $36,925, half the cost of Botox. Seldon is more accurately an ear, nose, and throat specialist who apparently has dabbled in cosmetic surgery.
"The defendants were interested in padding their bank accounts and, in doing so, used their patients as guinea pigs," Assistant US Attorney Crane Pomerantz told jurors, referring to the use of TRItox.
