Health

(NEW YORK) — Measles cases are rising in the U.S. with infections confirmed in at least five states so far this year.

Cases have been reported in Alaska, Georgia, New York City, Rhode Island and Texas, mostly among individuals not vaccinated for measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In western Texas, an outbreak has grown to at least 24 cases according to an update published Tuesday from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).

All of the cases are in unvaccinated people who live in Gaines County, which borders New Mexico, and at least nine of the patients have been hospitalized. Two cases are in adults aged 18 and older, while the remaining cases are among children and adolescents.

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities,” DSHS said on its website.

Vaccine exemptions among children in Gaines County — the epicenter of the outbreak — have grown dramatically in the past few years. Roughly 7.5% of kindergarteners had parents or guardians who filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine in 2013. Ten years later, that number rose to more than 17.5% — one of the highest in all of Texas, according to state health data.

Individual schools saw similar jumps. At Loop ISD, located in the county, 13.08% of students between kindergarten and 12th grade received a conscientious exemption from at least one vaccine during the 2018-19 school year, During the 2023-24 school year, that figure rose to more than 47.95%, according to DSHS data.

Meanwhile, the Georgia Department of Public Health recently confirmed two additional cases of measles in metro Atlanta among unvaccinated family members of a case confirmed earlier this year in January.

Heath officials have been urging parents to vaccinate children who have not received the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) shot yet. The CDC recommends that children get two doses with the first dose at 12 to 15 months old and the second dose between ages 4 and 6. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective.

Zach Holbrooks, executive director of the South Plains Public Health District, told ABC News on Tuesday that the district’s clinic in Seminole will be offering MMR vaccines through Thursday.

The cases mirror those seen across the country. The CDC says 14 cases have been confirmed nationwide so far, which does not include the updated cases in Texas or Georgia. Every single case is among someone who is unvaccinated or whose status is unknown.

Vaccination rates have been lagging in the U.S. About 93% of kindergarteners received select routine childhood vaccines, including the MMR vaccine, for the 2022-23 school year, according to a November 2023 CDC report.

This is about the same as the previous school year, but lower than the 94% seen in the 2020-21 school year and the 95% seen in the 2019-20, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter percentage had been the standard for about 10 years.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, especially if they are not wearing a mask or not vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Complications from measles are variable, ranging from fairly benign, such as rashes, or they can be more severe, including viral sepsis, pneumonia or brain swelling, or encephalitis.

The rise in cases come as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems poised to become the next head of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Kennedy has previously falsely stated that the MMR vaccine causes autism, despite many high-quality studies showing no such link.

During his confirmation hearings in late January, Kennedy said he is not “anti-vaccine” but “pro safety,” yet he refused to say that vaccines don’t cause autism.

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(WASHINGTON) — The federal government has drastically lowered some of the funding that universities and research institutions receive from medical and scientific grants.

News of the cuts rattled the scientific community with many scientific institutions set to lose millions of dollars in funding annually.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the country’s primary agency responsible for conducting and supporting medical research, provides federal research grants to universities and research institutions in two separate buckets – direct and indirect costs.

Direct costs are expenses related to conducting research, such as paying for researchers’ salaries or travel as well as funding the equipment and supplies necessary for experiments. Indirect costs, also known as facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, include other expenses such as student services and paying for building expenses like utilities.

Previously, most universities had negotiated indirect cost funds with the federal government, with some acquiring as much as 70% or more. Now, those rates will be capped at 15%.

Attorneys general from 22 states immediately sued to block the NIH from enacting the rate change, arguing the policy would result in “catastrophic financial consequences.”

The lawsuit alleged that the policy would likely result in the closure of research programs, layoffs and furloughs, disruptions to clinical trips and “potentially [jeopardize] people’s lives and health.”

“Indirect costs are the backbone of IHEs’ research programs and cover everything from utilities to facilities and equipment maintenance to payroll for faculty and staff to compliance programs, hazardous waste disposal, and more,” the lawsuit said. “They quite literally keep the lights on.”

The lawsuit asked the Massachusetts District Court to immediately issue a temporary restraining order blocking the policy, arguing the policy would cause irreparable harm and is a clear violation of Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how the federal agencies create and enforce regulations.

In a social media post, the NIH noted that $9 billion of the $35 billion for research that was granted last year were for indirect costs. The agency anticipates that the rate cap will save more than $4 billion annually.

Funding from the NIH supports roughly 412,000 jobs and $92 billion in economic activity, according to a report from United for Medical Research, a coalition of top research universities, medical associations, and biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.

The report argues that NIH funding is not just responsible for university jobs – but also supports local industry and economic activity that bring additional benefits to their communities and states.

In a letter to students and faculty, Harvard University addressed the rate cuts noting, “the discovery of new treatments would slow, opportunities to train the next generation of scientific leaders would shrink, and our nation’s science and engineering prowess would be severely compromised.”

In a similar letter, Stanford University noted that, “a cut of this magnitude would potentially have deep impacts on medical care, human health, and America’s place in the world as the leader of biomedical research.”

Research funding isn’t limited to institutions in the Northeast or California. Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Ohio and Georgia all received roughly $1 billion in funding from the institutes, according to active funding data from NIH.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham, the state’s largest employer, is among the top recipients of NIH funding, and received more than $413 million in NIH awards in 2023.

North Carolina, with more than 3,000 active projects and $3 billion in active NIH funding, and Texas, with more than 4,400 active projects and $2.5 billion in active NIH funding, are also among the GOP-leaning states that received NIH grants and support.

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(WASHINGTON) — Medical groups are expressing deep concern about the sudden removal or alteration of government data sets and webpages from agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the behest of President Donald Trump’s administration.

The American Cancer Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating the disease, called on the administration to “restore access to comprehensive data, refrain from changes that would lead to incomplete future data collection and commit to ensure evidence-based science can proceed without additional bureaucracy or red tape” in a statement published on its website on Thursday.

“Any restriction to gather and release these data could thwart our ability to address and reduce the cancer burden across all communities,” interim CEO Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick said in the statement.

The organization highlighted the removal of the Social Vulnerability Index, which uses U.S. census data to identify county-level risk and vulnerability factors facing communities, taking into account poverty, race, disability, housing and more, according to the CDC.

“Data from public sources like the Social Vulnerability Index are key to deploying the right resources to those who could benefit the most,” the group said. “Therefore, any barriers to accessing these data can also have repercussions on planning and deployment of support services for cancer patients and survivors.”

The Trump administration transition team didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Across the federal government, webpages and datasets were removed or altered following Trump’s executive orders on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and transgender identities called for an “end” to any related policies within the federal government.

Webpages about HIV, LGBTQ+ people and multiple other public health topics were taken down. Some of the terms being flagged for removal include pregnant people, chestfeeding, diversity, DEI and references to vaccines, health and gender equity, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity.

Several data tools were also removed or modified, according to Frederick.

Frederick said data collected by a plethora of federal and state agencies play a key role in many of the organization’s reports and publications, including the agency’s “Cancer Statistics, 2025” report and its companion, the “Cancer Facts and Figures” report.

The organization’s reports provide up-to-date trends on cancer occurrence, survival, symptoms, prevention, early detection and treatment, Frederick said.

“ACS develops guidelines for cancer screening and prevention, informed by the latest available data and evidence, to meet the needs of clinicians, the general public, and policy,” he said. “We are very concerned that the changes in data collection and dissemination have the potential to impact these efforts in the future.”

The organization is concerned about how the scope and impact of data removal and potential long-term changes to data collection will impact its research capabilities.

The ACS warning came just days after the medical nonprofit group Doctors For America filed a lawsuit against several Trump administration agencies over its sudden removal of health information from multiple government websites.

The suit targets the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Health and Human Services (which controls the CDC and FDA), asking a federal court in Washington, D.C. to order the government to restore the webpages and datasets.

ABC News has reached out to the agencies for comment.

In a statement to ABC News, the CDC confirmed that changes “to the HHS website and HHS division websites are in accordance with President Trump’s January 20 Executive Orders, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government and Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.”

The Office of Personnel Management provided guidance on both executive orders, prompting HHS and divisions to respond accordingly, the spokesperson stated.

In a separate emailed statement to ABC News, the CDC’s SVI coordinator also attributed the online restrictions to the HHS “pause on mass communications and public appearances that are not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health.”

It said the pause will be brief, “to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization.”

In the lawsuit, Doctors for America expressed concerns that the lack of data “creates a dangerous gap in the scientific data available to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, deprives physicians of resources that guide clinical practice, and takes away key resources for communicating and engaging with patients.”

Asked last Friday afternoon if government websites would be shut down to be scrubbed, the president said it wouldn’t be a “bad idea.”

“DEI … would have ruined our country, and now it’s dead. I think DEI is dead,” Trump said. “So, if they want to scrub the website, that’s OK with me. But I can’t tell you.”

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud and Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Outpatient health care visits for flu illnesses are at their highest levels in 15 years, according to data updated Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 8% of outpatient health care visits for respiratory illnesses are due to flu-like illness, which is the highest seen since the 2009-10 flu season, during the swine flu pandemic, data shows.

During the week ending Feb. 1, 8% of emergency department visits were due to flu compared with 3.2% the same time last year, according to the CDC data.

Additionally, 31.6% of tests came back positive for flu during the week ending Feb. 1 compared to a peak of 18.2% last season, CDC data shows.

“Given the sharp rise [of flu illnesses] particularly among young children and in key regions like New York City, this is a stark reminder of how unpredictable flu seasons can be,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

“With [influenza-like illness] rates exceeding 10% in several states and hospitalization rates climbing in older adults, this wave could put significant pressure on our health systems in the coming weeks,” he added.

What’s more, the rate of people dying from flu is now equal to the rate of people dying from COVID-19, likely for the first time since the COVID pandemic began.

The CDC estimates there have been at least 24 million illnesses, 310,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths from flu so far this season.

At least 57 pediatric flu deaths have been reported so far this season, with 10 reported during the week ending Feb. 1.

Flu vaccines are available for both children and adults, but vaccination coverage remains low, meaning “many children and adults lack protection from respiratory virus infections provided by vaccines,” according to the CDC.

Data shows only 45% of adults aged 18 and older have been vaccinated against flu this season as have 45.7% of children.

CDC data also shows that overall respiratory illness activity is listed as “very high” nationwide. Currently, 12 states are listed as “very high” and 19 states are listed as “high.”

By comparison, seven states were listed as “very high” and 20 states were listed as “high” last week.

Although COVID-19 activity is “elevated” in many areas of the U.S., CDC data shows emergency department visits are at low levels and the number of laboratory tests coming back positive is falling.

Respiratory syncytial virus activity was also described as “elevated” but declining in most areas of the U.S., according to the CDC.

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(NEW YORK) — A second type of bird flu has been found in dairy cows for the first time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Wednesday.

Until recently, all dairy herd detections in the U.S. had involved a form of bird flu, or avian influenza, known as B3.13.

This strain of bird flu, known as D1.1, has only ever previously been detected in wild birds and poultry, indicating that it has only recently spread to cows.

The detection, found in dairy cattle in Nevada, was a result of the USDA’s national milk testing program that launched in early December, according to the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

“USDA APHIS continues to work with the Nevada Department of Agriculture by conducting additional on-farm investigation, testing, and gathering additional epidemiological information to better understand this detection and limit further disease spread,” the agency said in a statement on its website.

There have been a total of 957 confirmed cattle infections in 16 states, with 36 new infections in the last 30 days in California and Nevada, the latest USDA data showed.

D1.1 has also been shown to be potentially dangerous to humans. Of the 67 human cases of bird flu detected in the U.S. beginning in April 2024, one of the only patients infected with D1.1 was in Louisiana.

The Louisiana patient died earlier this year, although health officials said the patient was over age 65 and had underlying health conditions.

Additionally, a 13-year-old girl in British Columbia, Canada, was admitted to the intensive care unit with the same strain in November.

The Louisiana patient was exposed to a backyard flock, and the Canadian teenager had an unknown exposure.

The CDC said in a statement on Thursday that it is continuing to “monitor this situation closely” for any signs that risk to human health has changed.

“Risk remains low despite what appears to be the introduction of a different genotype of avian influenza A (H5N1) virus into dairy cows based on the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Stakeholder Registry email,”
the statement said. “CDC continues to monitor this situation closely for signs that would indicate the risk to human health has changed.”

The CDC noted that the risk to the general public remains low, and that there is no evidence of human-to-human spread.

The USDA issued a federal order late last year, asserting that raw milk samples nationwide be collected and shared with the agency in order to test for bird flu.

The order marked the start of the agency’s National Milk Testing Strategy, a program intended to boost surveillance of the nation’s milk supply and dairy herds and increase understanding of how bird flu is spreading.The USDA said the D1.1 detection in dairy cows “does not change USDA’s [bird flu] eradication strategy and is a testament to the strength of our National Milk Testing Strategy.”

APHIS said it plans to publish a technical brief on the findings on its website and post the sequence data on an open-access databank in the coming week.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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(LOS ANGELES) — The percentage of emergency department (ED) visits related to fire and smoke inhalation rose dramatically in the days immediately after the Los Angeles wildfires last month, new data published Thursday shows.

The wildfires broke out in the Pacific Palisades and in Eaton Canyon on Jan. 7. Although several destructive wildfires emerged, the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire caused the most damage.

Fueled by strong winds and dry weather, the fires burned more than 57,000 acres, destroyed about 16,000 structures, and killed at least 29 people, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

A team from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed data from the county’s Syndromic Surveillance program, which receives and analyzes real-time data from most county EDs.

By collecting this data, the program can detect early warning signals of a potential public health threat that requires a response and alert health care professionals, according to the department of health.

ED visits, referred to in the report as “encounters,” were classified as being wildfire-associated if fire or smoke inhalation–related terms were listed in the chief complaints or the diagnoses sections.

The team looked at three periods: a three-week period before the wildfires began, the first six days of the wildfires and the week after the wildfires began.

Data showed the average percentage of ED visits associated with the wildfires increased eightfold from 0.06% to 0.52% in the six days after the wildfires. The peak was seen on Jan. 8, with 1.01% of all ED visits related to the wildfires.
During the week after the wildfires began, ED visits decreased but still remained elevated at 0.2% compared to baseline.

The average percentage of ED visits was found to be linked to an increase in the average daily Air Quality Index (AQI), which is put out by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Average daily AQI rose from 75, which is classified as “moderate level of concern” to an average of 110, classified as “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” in the six days after the wildfires began. In the week following the outbreak of the fires, average daily AQI returned to “moderate” at 58.

The report found a small increase in the average percentage of burn-related injuries and eye-related injuries but there were no increases seen in the percentage of visits related to asthma or cardiovascular reasons.

In contrast, the report found that immediately after the wildfires began, all-cause ED encounters — meaning visits to the department for any reason — decreased by 9%.

The authors stated that the decrease could for multiple reasons, with some including school closures, business closures, displacements, challenges accessing health care, residents seeking care in clinics or urgent care centers, or residents visiting EDs in neighboring counties.

“Near real-time surveillance of health outcomes during and after wildfires can estimate effects on health care use, serve as an early warning for acute health impacts, and identify opportunities for intervention,” the authors wrote. “Further analyses are planned to identify which illnesses have most affected specific populations.”

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(NEW YORK) — More than 1 million children may have been affected by long COVID in 2023, new federal data published Monday suggests.

Long COVID, a condition that occurs when patients still have symptoms at least three months after clearing infection, has been well-documented in adults, but its impact on children has been less clear.

Researchers from two divisions within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at results from the 2023 National Health Interview Survey, a nationwide survey that monitors the health of the U.S. population.

One child aged 17 or under was randomly selected from each sample household within the survey, and parents responded to questions about whether their child had previous COVID-19 illness, if the child had symptoms lasting three months or longer and if the child still had those symptoms at the time of interview.

Results of the analysis, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, showed approximately 1.01 million children, or 1.4%, are believed to have ever experienced long COVID in 2023 and about 293,000, or 0.4%, were experiencing the condition when the survey was being conducted.

This is similar to the 1.3%, or about 1 million, of children ever estimated to have had long COVID in 2022, according to the authors.

Children between ages 12 and 17 were most likely to have ever experienced long COVID or to still have the condition. Long COVID prevalence was also higher among Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children compared to non-Hispanic Black and Asian children.

Long COVID was also most common among children with a family income of under $100,000 and of parents with an education level of an associate’s degree or less.

Among children currently experiencing long COVID at the time of interview, 80% reported to have some level of activity limitation compared with before they had COVID-19.

“The large proportion of children experiencing [long COVID] with any activity limitation highlights the need to examine the severity of activity limitation, functional outcomes, and days lost from school,” the authors wrote.

The authors said there may be an under-reporting of long COVID in younger children due to difficulty with the verbalization of their symptoms.

Long COVID most often occurs in people who had severe illness, but anyone can develop the condition, according to the CDC. People who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are at higher risk of developing long COVID, the agency says.

Scientists are not sure what causes long COVID but have identified risk factors including having underlying conditions.

Research has also found that patients with long COVID tend to have lower cortisol levels and lower testosterone levels. Another theory is that virus particles may be persistently active, causing people to suffer long-term symptoms.

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(WASHINGTON) — Government agency webpages about HIV, LGBTQ+ people and multiple other public health topics were down as of Friday evening due to President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at gender ideology and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Some of the terms being flagged for removal include pregnant people, chestfeeding, diversity, DEI and references to vaccines, health and gender equity, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who spoke to ABC News on the condition of anonymity.

Entire databases have also been temporarily removed.

Researchers confirmed to ABC News they were scrambling to collect and archive as much data as possible from the sites before they were taken down.

Some pages might be returned to public view after the language is reviewed and removed, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC said, though it’s not clear which pages.

Removed pages included key CDC information on the rate of HIV diagnoses, breakdowns of infections by race and gender and the probability of HIV transmission by various forms of sex.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a national survey system that collects various habits on teenagers as well as their gender identity, is also down.

The CDC’s “HIV Risk Reduction Tool,” an interactive tool that allowed users to gauge the risk of certain sexual behaviors, has also been erased.

For now, the agency appears to have consolidated all of its information about the virus that causes AIDS into a single, simplified page titled, “About HIV.”

Another website, reproductiverights.gov, which provided resources on reproductive care and abortion access, was also removed. The Food and Drug Administration’s webpage titled “Minority Health and Health Equity” was also down.

Asked Friday afternoon in the Oval Office if government websites would be shut down to be scrubbed, the president said it wouldn’t be a “bad idea.”

“I don’t know — it doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me,” Trump said.

“DEI … would have ruined our country, and now it’s dead. I think DEI is dead. So, if they want to scrub the website, that’s OK with me. But I can’t tell you,” Trump continued. Trump’s executive order on DEI called for an “end” to any related policies within the federal government.

The other executive order, “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” directed the federal government to recognize only two sexes: male and female.

A memo sent to HHS officials on Wednesday directed subagencies such as the CDC to remove “all outward facing media (websites, social media accounts, etc.) that inculcate or promote gender ideology” by 5 p.m. on Friday.

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(NEW YORK) — Friday marks five years since the COVID-19 virus was declared a public health emergency by the United States. But five years later, the virus is still killing thousands, according to experts.

“One of the things we have learned is that COVID came to us new, and now is integrated into our way of life,” said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “COVID is not going away, and it still causes a substantial amount of illness each year.”

While the world might not be in a global pandemic anymore, Sean Clarke, a professor of nursing leadership at New York University, said COVID is still a constant presence.

“The virus is still persistent and still moving. It’s still not a trivial thing,” Clarke told ABC News. “It hasn’t vanished, it’s just at a different point.”

Since 2020, over 7 million lives have been lost to the virus, according to the World Health Organization. Social distancing, wearing masks and introducing COVID-19 vaccines led the WHO to declare on May 5, 2023, that the virus was no longer a global health emergency. However, that didn’t mean COVID-19 could be immediately disregarded, said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“It is with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” Ghebreyesus said in 2023. “However, that does not mean COVID-19 is over as a global health threat.”

There have been 2,861 reported COVID-19 deaths in the world in the last 28 days, according to the WHO, with the U.S. making up 2,100 of those deaths. Hospitalizations and emergency department visits are also on the rise, and death rates for COVID-19 are at 1.8%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite five years of research developments, treatments and diagnostic tests, Schaffner told ABC News that COVID-19 will always be around, with two peaks each year — one in the summer and one in winter.

“We are going to have to keep living with this virus as we live with others,” Schaffner said.

The thousands of deaths and rise in hospitalizations will not decrease until more people take advantage of getting vaccinated, Schaffner told ABC News.

 

While COVID-19 vaccines are available for adults and children, vaccination rates are low. As of Jan. 4, less than 25% of adults were vaccinated with the updated 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.

“There are still people who are being admitted who’ve never been vaccinated at all and others who are not up to date in their vaccinations,” Schaffner said. “That’s unfortunate because the data continues to show that vaccination is the single most important preventive measure.”

Since COVID-19’s introduction, many patients have reported experiencing long COVID-19, where symptoms continue for years after the initial infection. According to the Mayo Clinic, some researchers have estimated that 10% to 35% of people who have had COVID-19 went on to have long COVID.

Schaffner said the way to diminish cases of long COVID is to keep up with vaccinations, which will reduce the chance of acquiring the virus and eliminate the possibility of developing long COVID.

“Anything we can do to reduce the occurrence and the severity of that acute infection will result in a reduction in the risk of long COVID,” Schaffner said. “Vaccination helps prevent and reduce the severity of the initial infection, it also reduces the risk of you getting long COVID.”

Looking at the next five years, Schaffner said the virus will continue to evolve or mutate, which will lead to updated vaccines on an annual basis. But, COVID-19 might also become even more intense, Schaffner said.

“This virus could mutate again and become more severe,” Schaffner said. “We don’t know if that’s going to happen. But when it comes to viruses, it’s very hazardous to predict the future, because they’re so unpredictable.”

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(NEW YORK) — JGL Aesthetics’ Instagram profile promised its clients radiant skin, friendly service and a machine they said could give people toned abs. However, some clients allege that the New York medical spa’s owner injected them with fake Botox that caused negative side effects.

Aesthetician Joey Luther was arrested last Wednesday for allegedly buying counterfeit Botox from China and injecting it into patients, without the required New York medical license, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

The 54-year-old was charged with wire fraud, smuggling and other crimes related to the purchase and import of misbranded and counterfeit drugs at the Manhattan spa. None of the counterfeit Botox was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, prosecutors said.

According to the criminal complaint, an investigation began after one of Luther’s patients said they experienced double vision, heart palpitations, weakness from the waist up and other problems after receiving a Botox injection from JGL Aesthetics.

One alleged victim visited three hospitals to treat her symptoms and was diagnosed with Botulism — a potentially fatal illness — in March 2024, prosecutors said.

Almost 5 million people in the U.S. got Botox in 2023, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

“So I think I saw the biggest uptick in requests for Botox during the pandemic,” Dr. Evan Rieder, a dermatologist, told “Nightline.” “When we were sitting at home during the pandemic, people were really glued to their cellphones and they were really diving into social media.”

Prosecutors say that Luther didn’t have the required New York State medical license to administer Botox.

When one client in the criminal complaint allegedly texted Luther about her symptoms, the complaint claims that “Luther falsely responded that he injected Botox from Allergan,” the name brand.

“If you’re getting something that’s actually not Botox, no one knows what is actually going into that mixture,” Rieder said. “If you have Botox that’s counterfeit, but it’s too strong, you could get Botulism, and it can cause all sorts of side effects in your body where the nerves are being paralyzed.”

The complaint alleges that Luther responded to multiple clients’ concerns, reassuring them about alleged symptoms including worsening vision, difficulty swallowing, headaches and neck fatigue.

While Luther was messaging his clients, the complaint alleges that he was in contact with his supplier to inform them that the product he got from them was tainted.

According to the complaint, “he, in fact, tries to bargain with his supplier, suggesting that, if they want to keep him as a client, that they need to send better product and send it quickly,” trial attorney and ABC News contributor Brian Buckmire said.

Henry Callander was among Luther’s patients, but isn’t part of the criminal complaint. His friends recommended JGL Aesthetics, and he thought he was getting his forehead treated for a fraction of the price.

“It was probably like 20% cheaper than regular Botox,” Callander told ABC News. “Depending on the treatment I was doing, it was probably like $400 a treatment.”

An attorney representing Luther did not respond to a request for comment from “Nightline.”

Luther is out on bail, but could face decades in prison if the complaint leads to trial and he’s found guilty. His next court date is Feb. 12.

The alleged danger isn’t limited to New York — the CDC issued a notice about counterfeit Botox and injections from individuals who were not following state or local requirements in December after 17 people across nine states suffered negative reactions.

In California, Lori Reed said she got Botox and filler treatments from a woman who she thought was a nurse for a few years because the price was right. Eventually, she alleged she had a bad reaction.

“My eyes were swollen and they were beet red,” she told “Nightline.” “And it has not gone away to this day.”

Several years later, Reed said she is still dealing with the consequences, even after getting multiple procedures to reverse the damage.

“For a while, I was very self-conscious. I wouldn’t even date,” she told “Nightline.” “I felt like I looked like a monster.”

According to a civil complaint filed by 16 different women, the injector was never licensed to inject Botox. The suit has since been settled.

She was ultimately found guilty in a criminal case and is serving probation after her six-year prison sentence was suspended.

“I wanted her to reap some sort of consequences for the damage that she had done — I expected her to do jail time,” Reed said. “It turned out that she did not. So I was a little disappointed in that.”

A “Nightline” episode that aired on ABC on Jan. 28, and is available now on Hulu, details the allegations about counterfeit Botox that led to criminal charges.

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