Led by TMZ.com, the mainstream media (MSM) has teamed with showbiz gossip rags to level an ostensibly newsworthy assault on Sharon Stone, in which a San Francisco civil court judge recently denied the actress exclusive custody of her son due to a series of supposed parenting overreactions, including her suggestion of injecting Botox in the 8-year-old's stinky feet to treat the odor.
However, at least one news organ did a bit of homework on the uses of Botox, only to discover that Stone may have a good point. Radar, a fairly subterrenean expose-driven Web-based tabloid, contacted George P. Liakeas, MD, of New York-based Smooth Synergy Cosmedical Spa, who claimed that not only are Botox injections in the feet not an overreaction, they're a pretty good way to reduce toe odor.
"If a person is concerned about sweating and odor, Botox injections would probably cure the problem because it affects the production of the sweat glands," Liakeas told Radar. "There's no reason to believe it's dangerous. [Stone] maybe be over the top in other ways, but the Botox for the feet example is not a good instance of her being inappropriate."
The "plastic surgery ghouls" of the MSM have ragged on Stone for years — she has used cosmetic surgery — and, as usual, has flubbed its own basic tenets regarding due dilligence and balanced reporting.
It's worse than we thought: Stone's lawyer responded to the TMZ report with a strongly worded denial of the "Botox toes" story.
