Is this a real threat or are we getting a little, uh, paranoid about what lengths terrorists will go to to build a bio-terror arsenal? The "hook" in this article sits precariously on the premise that a growing underground distribution network for Botox Cosmetic clones may beget a chemical Armageddon via Al Qaeda or some other Islamo-fascist organization. You be the judge. Officials fear toxic ingredient in Botox could become terrorist tool:

In early 2006, a mysterious cosmetics trader named Rakhman began showing up at salons in St. Petersburg, Russia, hawking a popular anti-aging drug at suspiciously low prices. He flashed a briefcase filled with vials and promised he could deliver more -- "as many as you want," he told buyers -- from a supplier somewhere in Chechnya.

Rakhman's "Botox" was found to be a potent clone of the real thing, but investigators soon turned to a far bigger worry: the prospect of an illegal factory in Chechnya churning out raw botulinum toxin, the key ingredient in the beauty drug and one of world's deadliest poisons. A speck of toxin smaller than a grain of sand can kill a 150-pound adult.

No Chechen factory has been found, but a search for the maker of the highly lethal toxin in Rakhman's vials continues across a widening swath of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. U.S. officials and security experts say they know the lab exists, and probably dozens of other such labs, judging from the surging black market for the drug.

Al-Qaeda is known to have sought botulinum toxin. The Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization, and other groups have bought and sold counterfeit drugs to raise cash. Now, with the emergence of a global black market for fake Botox, terrorism experts see an opportunity for a deadly convergence.

"It is the only profit-making venture for terrorists that can also potentially yield a weapon of mass destruction," said Kenneth Coleman, a physician and biodefense expert.

Read the whole story.

The Physicians Coalition for Injectable Safety recently launched a campaign aimed at reminding consumers that no pharmaceutical filler or injected device is presently FDA-approved for large volume injection to the buttocks. Coalition Says Synthetic Fillers and Large Volume Injections Dangerous:

The popularity and hype surrounding buttock augmentation and other large-volume body enhancing injections on blog sites like RealSelf.com and outside U.S. borders is an alarming and potentially deadly trend, cautions the Physicians Coalition for Injectable Safety. Permanent fillers such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), silicone, and polyacrylimide used in augmenting buttocks, hips, and even breasts can not only result in disfigurement but have resulted in death and serious injuries both in the U.S. and abroad. Synthetic fillers are used without extensive studies to determine safety and long-term outcomes.

The recent death of a woman in Argentina following buttock augmentation is not a result of plastic surgery. It is the result of a dangerous practice with fillers that are not intended to be used in this way.

The recent death of a woman in Argentina following buttock augmentation is not a result of plastic surgery," says Brazilian plastic surgeon Joao Carlos Sampaio Goes, MD, PhD, and past president of the International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. It is the result of a dangerous practice with fillers that are not intended to be used in this way." Buttock augmentation is a hot topic in the media and a popular procedure of surgical tourism," often performed in countries where standards are less stringent.   

This is not an incident or practice isolated to the U.S," says Baltimore dermatologist Robert Weiss, MD, Immediate Past- President of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. Recent headlines of death in the U.S. include cases in Tampa, Florida where an unlicensed, non--medical provider allegedly injected two women with a homemade combination of industrial silicone oil and saline to augment or enhance the shape of their buttocks, and a woman in the Bronx who died after illegal silicone injections resulted in the substance migrating to (traveling) her lungs and producing respiratory failure."

Read it all.

A backlash against aesthetic medicine has been noticeable in Australia for some time. Following the 2007 death of Melbourne woman Lauren James, who died following a liposuction procedure and has become a poster child for this phenomenon, Australian officials have repeatedly focused the spotlight on the lax controls imposed on the cosmetic and beauty industries.

Regulating the industry in that country may or may not be a good thing, but a recently published article focused my attention on the intense cultural backlash against plastic surgery in Australia. Drawing the line on the beauty industry:

While these are the tragic deaths that make the headlines, untold numbers of women volunteer to go under the knife each year, striving for physical perfection despite the risks.

The author of Skintight: An Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery, University of Technology Sydney senior lecturer Dr Meredith Jones, says it's a recipe for unhappiness. "The makeover culture is a kind of state of being where nothing is ever good enough," she says.

"For women in particular it means they tend not to focus on the important things. They will spend a lot of time, energy and money trying to achieve something closer to an ideal body than what they have. The fact is they can never actually achieve an ideal body, so there is never going to be any rest."

It is impossible to obtain accurate figures on the number of cosmetic procedures performed in this country, with the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons stating: "No-one knows exactly how much cosmetic surgery is being performed in Australia, as national statistics for the industry are not collected at this time.

"This is partly due to the fact that so many different practitioners perform cosmetic surgery, ranging from plastic surgeons to cosmetic doctors and dermatologists."

As Mr Spock would say, "Fascinating." Read it all.