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SF Doctor Indicted in Alleged Counterfeit Botox Scheme

Joe Kukura — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 19:19:31 GMT

A Bay Area physician allegedly skimmed a nearly million bucks by buying fake Botox from online pharmacies, and selling it to patients as the real thing.

SFist loves a good Botox scandal, and while we are not Los Angeles, we’ve had a few good ones here over the years. The grandmommy of them all was the 2011 story of “Botox Mom,” who created an international uproar after supposedly giving her 8-year-old daughter Botox injections and bikini waxes to help her win child beauty pageants, yet the whole story turned out to be a hoax, and the woman had been paid $200 by British tabloid The Sun to simply make up a clickbait story for them. Four years later, we had a Botox Bandit who would get thousands of dollars of work done on his face, and then cleverly slip out without paying the bill.

More Botox high jinks have been injected into the news cycle, and this may concern you if you’ve had “Botox” injections from a Dr. Lindsay Clark. The Chronicle reports that Clark has been indicted by a federal grand jury for selling fake Botox, or rather, counterfeit Botox purchased from shady online pharmacies, and then selling it as full-price, legitimate Botox.

According to the indictment, Clark did business in both San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

“Clark allegedly obtained these products from sources abroad, primarily by ordering the drugs and devices over the phone and internet,” according to the indictment. “The indictment alleges that Clark purchased at least $270,951 worth of products from these foreign online ‘pharmacies’ and ‘depots,’ and obtained revenue from services rendered in connection with these products, perhaps more than $1,069,880.”

According to Clark’s website, which is still online, she has operated out of offices in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Monterey.* Her personal bio decribes her as a “member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine,” a controversial organization that many doctors feel promotes quack science. The American Medical Association does not recognize “anti-aging” as a legitimate field of medicine.

Dr. Clark is out on bond, and is scheduled to appear in a U.S. District Court again on June 4.

Image: NEW YORK, NY - MAY 08: (L-R) Talent Manager, Jenner Communications, Kris Jenner, Model Kendall Jenner, Founder, Kylie Cosmetics Kylie Jenner, Founder, The Business of Fashion Imran Amed and Founder and CEO, KKW Kim Kardashian attends an intimate dinner hosted by The Business of Fashion to celebrate its latest special print edition 'The Age of Influence' at Peachy's/Chinese Tuxedo on May 8, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Business of Fashion)

*This article has been updated to remove the name of a business on Buchanan Street where Dr. Clark had once rented space over a year and a half ago, but a business which she does not own or manage herself, according to the owner.

'Botox Bandit' Scams SF Plastic Surgeon Out Of Thousands In Cosmetic Improvements

Eve Batey — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 13:30:00 GMT

You know that ruse where you pretend to be absorbed in your cell phone to avoid talking to someone? Well, apparently that deception also works if you want to get out of paying for thousands of dollars worth of plastic surgery, at least at one San Francisco doctor's office.

San Francisco plastic surgeon Dr. Larry Fan is, according to his website, "an award winning, Harvard trained leader in aesthetic plastic surgery." One thing he apparently isn't, however, is a doctor who asks for identification and payment up front.

On Monday, reports KPIX, a "middle-aged man" visited Fan's office for "thousands of dollars worth of fillers and laser treatments," but was reluctant to give out any personal information at his appointment.

“He wanted to provide as little information as he could. He was hesitant to provide a phone number and an e-mail address,” Fan told KPIX.

Apparently that reticence was no barrier to getting what Fan described to ABC7 as "the works": Botox, an anti-wrinkle treatment, injectable fillers, and laser resurfacing, totaling between $5000-$6000 bucks.

After the man got his treatments, he pulled the old cell phone trick to get out of paying the tab, Fan said.

"In the process of checking out, instead of checking out and providing payment, he ended up pretending to be talking on his phone, and then continued to walk out the door and sort of said a quick 'I'll be right back,'" Fan told ABC7. Needless to say, he wasn't.

The man, who called himself "Paul Harland," is described as about 40 years old, 6'0" tall, and with dark hair. He was caught briefly in surveillance camera footage, viewable below.

This might not be the first time "Harland" pulled this scam, Fan says. The makers of Botox emailed San Francisco plastic surgeons last April warning them about a similar crime. As Botox reportedly lasts about four to six months, it seems like "Harland" was right on schedule.

There still might be time to catch "Harland" following this go-round in the doctor's chair, though: Fan says that the unpaying patient should be swollen and bruised for the next few days, so be on the lookout for a big guy who looks a little beat up.

And after that? According to Fan, we should all keep our eyes peeled for "the best looking thief in San Francisco."

8-Year-Old Botox Daughter Taken Out of Mother's Home

Brock Keeling — Mon, 16 May 2011 09:10:19 GMT

The 8-year-old girl whose mother gave her Botox injections and bikini waxes, in a bizarre effort to turn her into a pageant beauty winner, was taken out of her home. After fame-hungry San Francisco mom Kerry Campbell appeared on Good Morning America and Inside Edition on March 12 to defend her daughter's painful beauty treatments, the "San Francisco Human Services Agency" and SFPD conducted an investigation. ABC News reports: "A person with knowledge of the situation told ABC News that the girl, Britney, is doing well but did not offer more detail on the ongoing investigation into the girl's mother, Kerry Campbell."

Previously: : S.F. Mom Defends Decision to Give 8-Year-Old Daughter Botox, Bikini Wax
Botox Pageant Mom Under Investigation

Botox Pageant Mom Under Investigation

Brock Keeling — Fri, 13 May 2011 09:30:43 GMT

After San Francisco stage mom Kerry Campbell appeared on Good Morning America and Inside Edition Thursday to defen her 8-year-old daughter's Botox injections and bikini waxes, Child Protective Services and SFPD plan on an investigation. Viewers who watched the interviews apparently "flooded" CPS with calls. "We need to sit down and talk with the mom, talk with the child, and see what's going on," Trent Rhorer, head of San Francisco's Child Protective Services, explained to ABC 7. "It's pretty unusual for a mom to be injecting an 8-year-old with Botox and certainly is grounds for an investigation."

Campbell insists that the injections are safe, even though she administers the botulism treatments herself, which she buys online form a "trusted source." She also claims that other parents on the pageant circuit do the exact same thing.

"And they were just telling me about the lines on her face and how, you know a lot of the moms there, they're giving their kids Botox. And it's pretty much like the thing. I'm not the only one that does it," said Campbell.

SFist readers responded with outrage after hearing about the her daughter's plight. Commenter phlavor had this to say: "I'm shaking right now from both rage and needle phobia. I've wrestled for years over whether people should get a license to have kids. This woman makes an excellent argument for it."

ABC 7 report below.

Sharon Stone "Wanted to Botox Her Kid," Says Court Docs

Brock Keeling — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:04:29 GMT

During the contentious court trial between (former) Bay Area married couple of note, Ginger McKenna (AKA Sharon Stone) and the Chronicle's Phil Bronstein," the former, it seems, was described as an "alarmist" who had "gone off the deep end over and over." At least according to the esteemed journalists over at TMZ, who obtained the court's "Tentative Statement of Decision" document on their recent custody battle.

Take, for example, this:

Among many things, the judge says, "Mother appears to overreact to many medical issues involving Roan." In one case, the judge describes Stone believing Roan had a spinal condition, but "there was no evidence to support this allegation."

Which, one might argue, seems reasonably worrisome for a first-time parent. But then TMZ goes on to report that la Stone also "wanted to Botox her kid" after a pungent case of foot odor. Which? Not so reasonable.

"Another example of an overreaction is that Mother suggested that Roan should have Botox injections in his feet to resolve a problem he had with foot odor. As Father appropriately noted, the simple and common sense approach of making sure Roan wore socks with his shoes and used foot deodorant corrected the odor problem without the need for any invasive procedure on this young child."

This, among other issues not yet released to the public, might have lead to a San Francisco court ruling that their son stay in San Francisco with Bronstein. You know, instead of the crazy lady's house. Anyway, if you recall, Phil and Sharon were married from 1998 to 2004, etcetera, etcetera, and so forth.