FDA says four people injected with unapproved toxin (Diluted Botulinum A)

OAKLAND PARK, Fla. -- Four people who remain paralyzed with botulism were injected with shots that contained a large dose of a raw, unapproved toxin that their anti-wrinkling treatment clinic had bought from a California laboratory, federal documents show.

The suspended clinic doctor who administered the shots, Bach McComb, diluted the mixture as if it were made from lower-strength Botox _ a federally approved medication _ instead of high-potency raw toxin, federal agents said in a statement filed in a California federal court. McComb and his girlfriend were hospitalized in New Jersey.

The details surfaced in an application for a search warrant filed last week by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which is investigating the botulism poisonings in late November. The agents searched a toxin factory, List Biological Laboratories, outside San Jose, Calif., on Thursday.

In the documents, FDA Special Agent Susan Leeds of Miami said an assistant at the suburban Fort Lauderdale clinic told agents that McComb told him to order botulinum bacteria type A toxin from List, which makes deadly substances such as anthrax that is supposed to be used only in animal research.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--botulismprobe1214dec14,0,185335.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

HOW did this person get a medical degree?