(NEW YORK) — The summer surge of COVID-19, fueled by the delta variant, raised alarm bells among scientists and citizens alike that unlike prior variants of the virus, this one was different.
Those fears solidified in July, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an outbreak in Provincetown, Massachusetts, among mostly vaccinated people. This early data hinted, alarmingly, that the delta variant could be equally likely to spread among the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.
Prior to the emergence of the delta variant, the risk of spreading the virus while vaccinated appeared to be so low the CDC said it was safe for vaccinated people to ditch their masks. But CDC Director Rochelle Walensky described the Provincetown findings as “concerning,” and she promptly reversed the agency’s mask guidelines for vaccinated people, prompting renewed fear and uncertainty about the efficacy of vaccines against variants.
“I think the people who are really concerned are parents with children under 12 who are concerned that even if they’re vaccinated, they could have a breakthrough infection and transmit it to their unvaccinated children,” said Dr. Anna Durbin, an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “I get that.”
But reassuringly, experts told ABC News, new studies show those fears may have been overblown.
“Data are coming out that it’s the opposite,” said Dr. Paul Goepfert, an infectious disease physician and director of the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic.
The CDC’s Provincetown study relied on something called viral load — the amount of virus in a person’s body. Researchers found that viral load levels were the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated people, prompting speculation the virus transmits just as readily among a vaccinated person. But viral loads change over time.
“The problem with the Provincetown study is they just looked at one early point in time,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel member and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“That’s just the first time point,” Goepfert said. “If you keep following them, they’re much less infectious more rapidly.”
Experts said there’s no doubt the delta variant is among the most hyper-transmissible versions of the virus to have emerged. That hyper-transmissibility makes it possible to spread between vaccinated people. But that risk is still low. Even if the delta variant is transmissible among vaccinated people, new data suggests “it’s for a shorter period of time” compared to the unvaccinated, said Durbin.
In late July, researchers following patients in Singapore who had breakthrough infections with the delta variant after vaccinations with mRNA vaccines — such as Pfizer and Moderna — showed this exact decrease in infectivity. The study compared viral load counts during the first few weeks of each breakthrough infection. The delta variant caused the same peak viral load in all infected individuals — a sign of active infection and risk of infectious spreading — but the vaccinated group cleared the infection faster.
Research by a separate group found similar results with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is authorized in many countries outside the United States. In that study, researchers found that being vaccinated also appeared to shorten the time of breakthrough infection by the delta variant, according to an abstract presented at the Infectious Disease Society of America’s conference in early October.
Both studies have yet to be peer reviewed, but vaccine experts said they offer reassuring evidence that being vaccinated still dramatically reduces the risk of spreading the virus to a friend or loved one — even the highly-transmissible delta variant.
As families prepare for the 2021 holiday season, those who are vaccinated can rest assured that there’s increasing evidence that being vaccinated remains the best defense against the spread of infection, especially in the event of an unlikely breakthrough case.
The nominations for the 2021 American Music Awards were announced Thursday morning and first-time nominee Olivia Rodrigo leads the pack with a total of seven nods.
Olivia scored a nomination in the coveted Artist of the Year category, where she’ll be up against Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, BTS, Drake and The Weeknd. Taylor currently holds the record for the most career AMA wins, at 32.
The Weeknd is the second-most nominated artist this year with with six nominations, followed close behind by Bad Bunny, Doja Cat and R&B singer Giveon, with five apiece.
The 2021 American Music Awards will take place Sunday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET. The ceremony will broadcast live on ABC.
Here’s a list of the nominees in some of the major categories:
Artist of the Year
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
The Weeknd
Olivia Rodrigo
BTS
Drake
Favorite Male Pop Artist
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Justin Bieber
Lil Nas X
The Weeknd
Favorite Female Pop Artist
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Favorite Pop Duo or Group
AJR
BTS
Glass Animals
Maroon 5
Silk Sonic
Favorite Pop Album
Ariana Grande, positions
Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia
Olivia Rodrigo, SOUR
Taylor Swift, evermore
The Kid LAROI, F*CK LOVE
Favorite Pop Song
BTS, “Butter”
Doja Cat feat. SZA, “Kiss Me More”
Dua Lipa, “Levitating”
Olivia Rodrigo, “drivers license”
The Weekend & Ariana Grande, “Save Your Tears (Remix)”
New Artist of the Year
24kGoldn
Giveon
Masked Wolf
Olivia Rodrigo
The Kid LAROI
Collaboration of the Year
24kGoldn ft. iann dior “Mood”
Bad Bunny & Jhay Cortez “DAKITI”
Chris Brown & Young Thug “Go Crazy”
Doja Cat ft. SZA “Kiss Me More”
Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar & Giveon “Peaches”
(WASHINGTON) — As President Joe Biden jets off to Europe to meet with allies, some of the United States’ closest partners are still wondering if America is truly “back” as Biden proclaimed earlier this year.
Cautious about Biden’s domestic standing, and smarting from his lack of coordination on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, they are concerned whether his presidency truly represents a break from the isolationist, confrontational foreign policies of his predecessor, President Donald Trump, according to U.S. foreign policy experts.
Biden’s second trip abroad as president will take him to Rome and Scotland, where he’ll attend international summits aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic, global finance and the climate crisis.
But the excitement over Biden’s arrival on the world stage has belied the fact that he’s continued some key Trump policies, such as tariffs on China and a general pivot — started under President Barack Obama — toward Asia and the Pacific. Congressional inaction on fighting climate change also has the potential to weaken Biden’s hand.
“I think there was probably too high expectation that we could just turn the page of the last four years, or maybe we attributed to Trump some policies that were more structural, such as the U.S. shift to China and to the Indo-Pacific,” Benjamin Haddad, the senior director of the Europe Center at the Atlantic Council, told ABC News.
Is America really ‘back’?
When the president took to the world stage for his first trip abroad, with a June trip to the United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland, he and other world leaders celebrated the United States’ changed tone.
Biden preached multilateralism, which Trump had maligned for four years. And European allies rejoiced.
When Macron met the U.S. president during a summit in England, the French leader told reporters that he “definitely” believed “America is back.”
“I think it’s great,” Macron said, “to have the U.S. president part of the club and very willing to cooperate.”
But French-U.S. relations hit a major snag last month when the Biden administration announced it would sell Australia nuclear submarines — resulting in Australia canceling a major defense deal with France.
France recalled its ambassador from Washington in response to the so-called “sub snub,” and its foreign minister compared Biden’s style to Trump’s.
But since then, Biden and Macron have sought to repair ties: They held a phone call last week, have launched meetings between senior officials from both countries, and on Friday, plan to meet in Rome. Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Paris next month, too, according to her office.
“In many ways, this is not just about the French,” Célia Belin, an expert on trans-Atlantic relations at the Brookings Institution, told ABC News. “It goes to the core of the conversation that the U.S. should be having with their allies, which is, what do you actually expect from European allies in the Indo-Pacific?”
What’s at stake in Rome and Glasgow
Before those major hiccups, Biden’s reception in Europe stood in stark contrast with the constant spats — both personal and policy-wise — between U.S. allies and Trump.
Calling his foreign policy “America First,” Trump actively sought to lessen American commitments abroad.
He pulled the United States out of international organizations and treaties and publicly called on allies to pay more for defense. His fights with foreign leaders marred the international summits he did attend.
Biden campaigned in large part on reversing the damage he said Trump had caused, and when he won the presidency, U.S. allies rattled by years of instability from Washington had high hopes of a return to the pre-Trump years.
“The decisions that the administration has taken, very much and consistent with the domestic mood and polarization, have left them quite disappointed,” Heather Conley, the director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.
Allies are now facing the decision of whether to work independently of the United States on certain issues, uncertain whether Biden’s young administration will truly restore America’s relationship with the world, Conley said.
“I think the question for me is, moving forward, has the administration understood that these decisions have profoundly challenged and questioned our allies as far as our credibility?” she said. “Can we restore that trust?”
Biden planned to arrive in Rome late Thursday ahead of a Friday meeting with Macron, and another meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
In the Italian capital, the president also planned to attend a summit of the leaders of rich and developing nations known as the Group of 20, or G-20, where he plans to formalize an international agreement on a 15% minimum tax for corporations. The global response to the coronavirus pandemic and other global finance issues are also expected to take center stage.
Biden then plans to travel to Glasgow, Scotland, where on Monday and Tuesday, he is scheduled to attend the U.N. climate change conference known as COP26. The U.S. is pushing countries to cement emissions-reduction targets they had set as part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
He won’t have the opportunity to meet in person with two leaders who play a key role on climate and security issues: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They plan to attend the summits virtually, citing the COVID-19 situation in their countries.
‘It’s nice to have a win’
Biden had hoped to travel abroad with two major pieces of legislation in his pocket: his bipartisan $1 trillion physical infrastructure bill, which has already passed the Senate, and his larger social package — which he calls the “Build Back Better” bill and is full of Democratic priorities like universal pre-kindergarten, expanded healthcare, guaranteed paid leave and programs to combat the climate crisis.
Strong climate provisions, in particular, could lend him credibility at COP26, showing the United States put its money where its mouth is as it hectors developing nations to commit to lowering emissions — and others to fulfill their pledges.
A recent report by the New York-based research institute Rhodium Group — frequently cited by the White House — found that the only way the U.S. could meet its goal of halving its 2005 emissions levels by 2030 would be with congressional action. Experts have questioned whether the climate provisions in the “Build Back Better” bill will have enough teeth to help the U.S. meet that target.
“I’m presenting a commitment to the world that we will, in fact, get to net zero emissions on electric power by 2035 and net zero emissions across the board by 2050 or before,” Biden said last week during a town hall hosted by CNN, referencing COP26. “But we have to do so much between now and 2030 to demonstrate what we’re going to — that we’re going to do.”
Twin legislative victories would also show allies that Biden had political strength and could push through the policies he champions when abroad. They could also help him with sagging poll numbers at home.
“For messaging purposes, it’s nice to have a win when you’re abroad that you can brag about a little bit,” Amanda Rothschild, who served as a speechwriter on the Trump White House’s National Security Council, told ABC News.
Putting money where his mouth is
The president had made clear that he wanted his $1 trillion physical infrastructure deal to pass Congress by the time he departed, and that he also wanted a deal on his larger social bill — which is expected to contain massive climate-related investments.
When it became clear in recent days that might not be possible in time for the trip, the White House has emphasized, instead, that Democratic lawmakers’ negotiations seem to be coming to a conclusion soon.
Biden’s top national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters Tuesday that U.S. allies are “excited” about the investments the president is pursuing in climate change, clean energy, infrastructure, and domestic economic growth.
“They want to see the United States making these investments,” Sullivan said. “They also recognize that the United States has a set of democratic institutions, has a Congress; that this is a process; that it needs to be worked through.”
Sullivan, though, said world leaders understood the ups and downs of policy-making.
“I think you’ve got a sophisticated set of world leaders,” he said, “who understand politics in their own country, and understand American democracy, and recognize that working through a complex, far-reaching negotiation on some of the largest investments in modern memory in the United States — that that takes time.”
Haddad, of the Atlantic Council, said European allies were less interested in the nitty gritty of legislating and more on practical matters like Republicans blocking the confirmation of most of Biden’s ambassadorial nominees.
“I don’t think the day-to-day negotiations in Congress are really being noticed in Europe,” Haddad said. “But the domestic political paralysis does have an impact on U.S. leadership.”
But if Biden arrives in Europe without those pieces of legislation in hand, “it’s going to be much harder for him to make the case, you know, the U.S. is back,” Matthew Goodman, an expert on international economic policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said.
Still, Biden’s not Trump — and even if allies are nervous, the fledgling administration still has time to gain its footing on the international front, after spending much of its time focused on the domestic economic recovery, according to Goodman, who served in the White House and State Department under President Barack Obama.
“I think the rest of the world is going to be relieved that, you know, it’s not Donald Trump at the table, frankly,” Goodman, who served in the Obama administration, said. “He was considered a very disruptive force, and so I think, by comparison, Biden’s going to be well received in that sense.”
(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has seemed to have lost 44 pounds in the past two years, according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by the country’s intelligence agency in a closed-door meeting.
The massive weight loss has prompted rumors and conspiracies that North Korea was using a Kim Jong Un body double, which South Korea said is untrue.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service conducted the assessment “based on various scientific methods including artificial intelligence” using super-resolution video analysis and a stereometry analysis model that gauges facial fat and weight, Rep. Kim Byung-Kee of the ruling Democratic Party told reporters.
Kim’s often-reported health problems do not pose any serious issues, South Korea said. The analysis also concluded that the conspiracy theories suggesting North Korea may have been exposing a Kim Jong Un look-alike are not credible.
The most noticeable change was the disappearance of the official portraits of his father and grandfather, former leaders Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, from the main walls of official meetings. Instead, the communist regime religiously hung the two portraits in all public areas and individual homes.
“Kim seems to have been working on building a people-friendly image by releasing photos of him drinking beer and smoking together with high-level officials,” Byung-Kee said.
Kim has been more active in public appearances this year compared to the year before. So far, he has been seen through North Korean state media for a total of 70 days in 2021. In contrast, he appeared 49 times during the same time in 2020.
One soon-to-be-wed couple not only enjoyed a nice sunny day for their beachside nuptials — they also received the surprise of their life when actor Tom Hanks crashed their ceremony.
Diciembre and Tashia Farries tell KTTV they were exchanging vows on Santa Monica beach in California when the actor unexpectedly walked up to congratulate the happy couple and their one-year-old son, who was also part of the big moment.
The Farries recall Hanks telling them their nuptials were beautiful and that he had been admiring their ceremony from afar. The actor also asked to take a photo with the couple, telling them he thought they were beautiful.
Tashia, who works as a private celebrity chef, said she was shocked by Hanks’ arrival, even though her job has her working with big-name stars.
However, it was Diciembre who discovered there may have been a special reason why the 65-year-old actor felt compelled to say hello. They told the outlet that their brother had tragically passed away, so they placed his photo on one of the chairs so he could still be part of the moment.
When talking with the actor, Diciembre learned both Hanks and their brother were born on July 9. They told the outlet, “It was like that was a message that he was there!”
Following last Thursday’s deadly accidental shooting involving Alec Baldwin on the set of the film Rust, the actor’s daughter, Ireland Baldwin, has broken her silence.
“Amongst some of the most abhorrent and threatening comments, emails, text messages, and voicemails I’ve been getting… this beautiful comment stands alone. I know my dad, you simply don’t. I love you, Dad,” Ireland shared Wednesday on Instagram, along with a user’s memory of her dad that portrayed him as an unpretentious actor and loving father.
The comment read, “So about a million years ago I was working in the production office in Toronto of the company that was making the Thomas the Tank Engine movie that he did. I’d dealt with typing up some pretty goofy celebrity riders in my day but NOT your dads.”
“He only wanted to make sure he had milk and cereal in his hotel room for when his daughter was visiting. That was it. That was the whole rider. I’ll always remember that,” the woman concluded.
Ireland previously announced that she will be stepping away from social media while her family deals with the tragedy.
Last week, while rehearsing a scene on the set of Rust, Baldwin fired a pistol allegedly containing a live round or other projectile that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. The incident is currently under investigation.
(WASHINGTON) — In a last-minute push before heading overseas, President Joe Biden headed to Capitol Hill Thursday morning to try to get all Democrats behind his social spending and climate policy agenda.
On a call with reporters, senior administration officials laid out the framework of a $1.75 trillion social spending package President Biden will present to House Democrats, including skeptical progressives.
“The president believes this framework will earn the support of all 50 Democratic senators, and pass the House,” an administration official said.
Biden pulled up to the Capitol shortly after 9 a.m., flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding only with “It’s a good day” to a reporter asking what his message is to House progressives who don’t trust Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who have been holdouts throughout the extended and often chaotic bargaining.
As he headed to the closed-door meeting, ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked, “Mister President, do you have a deal?” but Biden merely waved and said “How are you? Good to see you all.”
When reporters started shouting, “Do you think you have enough of a framework to get progressives to support the infrastructure bill?” Biden responded “Yes.”
The White House said he would give the nation an update on his domestic agenda before his international trip in a speech from the White House East Room at 11:30 a.m., saying he is “delivering” on his promises to rebuild the middle class.
“After hearing input from all sides and negotiating in good faith with Senators Manchin and Sinema, Congressional Leadership, and a broad swath of Members of Congress, President Biden is announcing a framework for the Build Back Better Act,” said a White House statement that notably did not say he had an agreement.
“President Biden is confident this is a framework that can pass both houses of Congress, and he looks forward to signing it into law. He calls on Congress to take up this historic bill – in addition to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
The White House said, “the framework will save most American families more than half of their spending on child care, deliver two years of free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in America, give more than 35 million families a major tax cut by extending the expanded Child Tax Credit, and expand access to high-quality home care for older Americans and people with disabilities.”
The Child Tax Credit expansion, which Biden has proposed extending until 2025, would now be only until the end of 2022. Paid family and medical leave, which Biden had originally proposed be 12 weeks and then scaled back to four weeks, appeared to have been dropped altogether after Manchin objected, despite progressives fighting back. Two free years of community college that Biden had promised is not included.
It also claimed it represents “the largest effort to combat climate change in American history” and “the biggest expansion of affordable health care coverage in a decade,” saying it would “reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans by extending the expanded Premium Tax Credit, deliver health care coverage to up to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid, and help older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.”
An expansion of Medicare to cover dental and vision, a top priority of Sen. Bernie Sanders, is not in the framework.
And, the White House said, “it is fully paid for … by making sure that large, profitable corporations can’t zero out their tax bills, no longer rewarding corporations that shift jobs and profits overseas, asking more from millionaires and billionaires, and stopping rich Americans from cheating on their tax bills.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
After years of stardom, Paul McCartney says he finds giving out autographs “a bit strange,” and he won’t be doing them for fans anymore.
According to Louder Sound, in an interview with Reader’s Digest, the former Beatles legend explained, “It always struck me as a bit strange. ‘Here, can I write your name down on the back of this till receipt please?’ Why? We both know who I am.”
McCartney, 79, feels similarly about taking photos with fans, adding, “What you’ve usually got is a ropey photo with a poor backdrop and me looking a bit miserable.”
So what would he like instead? “Let’s chat, let’s exchange stories,” he shared.
Now, that doesn’t mean McCartney is opposed to greeting fans, he would just simply prefer to focus on actually connecting with them though conversation instead.
After years of stardom, Paul McCartney says he finds giving out autographs “a bit strange.”
According to Louder Sound, in an interview with Reader’s Digest, the Beatles member explained, “It always struck me as a bit strange. ‘Here, can I write your name down on the back of this till receipt please?’ Why? We both know who I am.”
McCartney, 79, feels similarly about taking photos, adding, “What you’ve usually got is a ropey photo with a poor backdrop and me looking a bit miserable.”
So what would he like instead? “Let’s chat, let’s exchange stories,” he shared.
Now, that doesn’t mean McCartney is opposed to greeting fans, he would just simply prefer to focus on actually connecting with them though conversation instead.
(NEW YORK) — Young people everywhere are giving themselves lip filler using DIY methods seen on TikTok, and medical professionals want it to stop.
The popularity of lip filler has been on the rise for years, much thanks to celebrities like Kylie Jenner, who constantly promote the plump lip look. But because the beauty trend has become so common and the procedure so accessible, many people seem to have forgotten that it is, in fact, still a medical procedure that must be taken seriously.
“The omnipresence of medically-enhanced and Instagram filter-enhanced lips and other body parts on social media has led to a false perception that the procedures are easy to perform and carry no risk at all,” said Dr. Dmitry Schwarzburg, M.D., of New York City-based clinic Skinly Aesthetics.
Over the past two years, as people — possibly bored in quarantine during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — spent more time on TikTok and Instagram, interest in and conversation around DIY filler and Botox treatments spiked. The hyaluron pen, for example, which can be purchased on Amazon or Etsy, has become one of the most popular tools to self-administer filler, thanks to social media. TikTok even has a #hyaluronpen hashtag where one can find over 65 million videos of people using or speaking about the pen.
Though at first glance, the tool does seem to work, Schwarzburg said it can cause life-threatening issues, or at the very least long-term damage to the lips. Unlike many other cosmetic procedures, it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
“The hyaluron pen device essentially forces hyaluronic acid into the lips through the skin with very intense pressure,” he said. “This results in severe bruising, uneven distribution, lumping, and can cause severe and permanent tissue damage and potential for tissue infarction, secondary to obstruction of the blood vessels.”
He added that dermal filler, if desired, should only be applied with a needle, by a trained medical professional, using an approved substance.
Schwarzburg said he believes TikTok, Instagram and YouTube are responsible for the recent popularity of the hyaluron pen, and that unfortunately, many millennial and Gen Z users have bought into it, as they believe it means they can get their cosmetic procedure done at home, without a doctor, for a much lower price. At a reputable clinic, lip filler can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, whereas a hyaluron pen goes for as little as $40 through an online vendor — a fact that matters greatly to many, especially those who’ve lost financial stability during the pandemic and are looking to take the cheaper route when it comes to their cosmetic procedures.
But medical professionals are advising people not to take a more dangerous, though inexpensive, route when it comes to fillers.
Stephanie Magana, 26, visited Skinly Aesthetics to get her lip filler dissolved after a different clinic used the hyaluron pen on her and left her with what she described as “white bumps all over my lips.”
She said she found the clinic on Instagram, and though “some of the results didn’t look so bad,” but as soon as the aesthetician administered the filler through the pen, she said she saw her lips swell up, bruise and develop strange bumps.
The clinic she went to did not answer ABC News’ request for comment.
“You don’t really think about it as being as scary, because it’s a pen,” she said, explaining that she chose to try out the pen because she initially thought it was safer and less invasive than a syringe.
After more than a week, with the bumps still not gone, Magana went to Schwarzburg, who dissolved the existing filler and injected her with FDA-approved Juvederm, to give her her desired results.
Schwarzburg said Magana is just one of many patients who’ve come to him this year with “botched filler” caused by unexperienced injectors.
What exactly is filler, and is it safe?
Fillers are often biodegradable substances that can be injected into or just below the skin. Hyaluronic acid — which is what most lip fillers are made up of — is a polysaccharide that is naturally produced by the body, and the filler works because when injected into the lip, it absorbs water from the body, “like a dry sponge thrown into water, which then creates volume and focal sterile inflammation,” Schwarzburg said.
Juvederm Ultra, Juvederm Voluma, Restylane Lyft and Revanesse tend to give more volume to the injected area, according to Schwarzburg, while Juvederm Volbella, Restylane Kysse, RHA fillers and Belotero are more subtle in their volume creation. These types of FDA-approved fillers are all often used by trained professionals to achieve volume in the lips and face.
“If injected properly, they essentially have a 100% safety profile,” Schwarzburg said, adding that some people can develop an allergy to the product, but that is rare and true of any injectable. Correctly administered fillers tend to last 6-15 months.
“As far as the technical aspect is concerned, the most dreaded complication is vascular occlusion, if the filler is inadvertently injected into one of the smaller branches of the facial artery, which if left unnoticed would lead to tissue necrosis, scarring and deformation,” Schwarzburg said, that’s why it’s so important that if a person is looking to get lip filler, they go to a trained expert who understands the human anatomy and the depths of the injections.
The qualifications of who can inject a patient with lip filler vary by country and by state, but in New York, doctors, physician assistants and nurses under the supervision of a doctor can legally administer it, Schwarzburg said.
Earlier this month, the FDA issued a warning about the use of the hyaluron pens.
“Today, the FDA is warning the public and health care professionals not to use needle-free devices such as hyaluron pens for injection of hyaluronic acid or other lip and facial fillers, collectively and commonly referred to as dermal fillers or fillers,” their statement, published on their website, reads. “Patients and healthcare providers should know that FDA has not approved any dermal fillers for over-the-counter sale for at-home use or for use with needle-free injection devices. These unapproved needle-free devices and fillers are often sold directly to customers online, bypassing consultation with a licensed health care provider, a critical safety measure for patients to make informed decisions about their personal health.”
It also said it is monitoring online platforms promoting these devices.
“We also want patients and providers to be vigilant by understanding which products have been approved by the FDA and the dangers of using unapproved products, some of which may be irreversible,” they said. “The FDA will continue to alert the public and take additional actions as necessary in order to protect public health.”
How to put a stop to this trend
Schwarzburg said that while he and other medical professionals are glad millennials are helping destigmatize safe cosmetic medicine by opening up about their experiences and procedures on social media, that openness has unfortunately also helped spread misinformation about the field as a whole, and essentially caused this potentially risky DIY filler trend.
The solution? Do your research, read the FDA guidelines, don’t take the cheap route when it comes to altering your appearance and don’t fall for the fake doctors who make these kinds of procedures appear safer and easier than an actual medical procedure, Schwarzburg said.
“I don’t think that this trend will last very long, as eventually people will come to realize that the whole thing is a dangerous scam, similar to the suction lip enhancements or suction butt enhancements that were trendy a few years ago, that are now joked about on the internet due to the ridiculous results that people were getting,” he added.
