Saturday, December 18, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Board: Doctor poses 'threat'

License stripped after patients get illegal drugs

A doctor who gave Las Vegans a botox knockoff drug, a substance that has left people paralyzed and on ventilators in New Jersey and Florida, lost his medical license during an emergency meeting of the Nevada Board of Osteopathic Medicine.

Declaring that Dr. Edward Hoffman "poses an imminent threat to the public health and safety," the board voted unanimously Thursday to immediately strip Hoffman of his license. The board found Hoffman administered three illegal drugs to Nevadans, including the unapproved anti-wrinkle treatment.

"Emergency action is necessary to protect the public," Charlotte Bible, chief deputy attorney general, told the board.

Attempts to reach Hoffman Friday for comment were unsuccessful. His attorney, Dominic Gentile, declined comment.

The board's action came as two people in New Jersey and two others in Florida were clinging to life after receiving a botulinum toxin manufactured by Toxin Research International, makers of the unapproved toxin found by Nevada Pharmacy Board investigators in Hoffman's office.

"Our two patients who got the bad botox are still considered critical," said Jamie Taylor, a spokeswoman for Palm Beach Gardens Hospital in south Florida. "They are stable, but on respirators."

Trey Delap, a deputy executive director of the Nevada osteopathic board, said Hoffman told authorities he gave the unapproved botox injections to four or five people from a vial clearly marked "research use only, not for human use."

Delap also said Hoffman ordered six vials of the substance, and only one partially filled one was found. A single vial would hold enough product for more than one injection.

Three people who received injections in November have told authorities they have suffered no ill effects so far, Delap said.

"We may have been fortunate in Las Vegas to have gotten a different lot of the botox knockoff," Delap said.

The Clark County Health District has issued a bulletin to doctors to look for botulism cases in Las Vegas.

It took people now suffering with botulism on the East Coast about a week to come down with botulism symptoms, according to federal authorities.

Delap said one Las Vegas woman did get violently ill after Hoffman gave her Clenbuterol, an unapproved weight loss treatment which has much of the same effects as ephedrine, which was taken off the market by the FDA after causing several deaths.

Delap said Hoffman told the woman her reaction was normal and would go away.

The only thing Clenbuterol is approved for in the United States is the treatment of horses with airway obstructions.

Hoffman also administered more than 36 injections of a non-FDA approved, foreign influenza vaccine to patients, according to a statement prepared by the board.

"The use of these agents is inexcusable," said Dr. Matthew McMahon, vice-chairman of the board.

Allergan, a California company, is the only company approved by the FDA to see botulinum toxin for cosmetic purposes in the United States. Allergan has complained to authorities that other companies have made knockoffs of its product.

Llelwyn Grant, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday an investigation has shown the ill people in Florida and New Jersey do have botulism, a rare disease. He also said the FDA is investigating the company that made the substance, which contained a large dose of high-potency toxin.

Botulism poisoning is fatal in about 10 percent of cases. It usually paralyzes victims from the head down for several months until affected nerve endings regrow.

The board is scheduled to hold an evidentiary hearing on complaints against Hoffman in 60 days.

A hearing on a separate matter that was to be held today regarding Hoffman was cancelled. It was to discuss whether Hoffman had complied with a settlement agreement entered in May of this year.

The board said Hoffman ignored a previous order to complete psychiatric treatment and "cease practicing osteopathic medicine by June 15."

The order followed Hoffman's admission that he had an affair with a woman who was his patient. When the woman's husband, also Hoffman's patient, asked for Viagra to enhance his sexual performance, the doctor refused to prescribe it.

Hoffman admitted to one count of sexual misconduct and agreed to undergo a six week psychiatric program and give up the practice of medicine "until the board reviewed the recommendations of the treatment facility."

"He never finished the treatment," Delap said. "He was kicked out."