Le Figaro Bordeaux
An online store manager who sold botox, hyaluronic acid and other beauty products in France that could be reserved for medical use appeared in court this Thursday in Bordeaux, accused of illegally practicing medicine and illicit importation of medicines.
This 42-year-old Franco-Moroccan, an English teacher on long-term leave, had created with her partner an online store called
“Bizouka”
, on which she had been selling cosmetic products
“having the character of medicine”
since 2019 , according to the 'charge.
The sales, not declared to the tax authorities, represented nearly 400,000 euros in cumulative turnover between 2020 and 2022, with more than a hundred customers.
Prosecuted before the Bordeaux Criminal Court, in particular for
"illegal practice of medicine"
,
"illicit importation of medicine"
and
"endangering the lives of others"
, the manager of this online store faces five years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros.
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Products reserved for the medical profession
“My client is not a multinational, she surfed a wave that she thought was legal. It recognizes a certain number of offences
,” such as having imported goods not CE stamped,
“but not all
,” declared its lawyer, Maître Sophie Benayoun.
“She was interested in aesthetic professions and started out in an unconsidered way
,” she pleads.
“The fear she has is of being a case taken as an example.”
The investigation was opened after a complaint in 2021 from a beautician concerning Bizouka products that could be reserved for the medical profession or prohibited for sale.
Investigators from the Judicial Financial Investigation Service (SEJF) have identified products based on botulinum toxin (botox), hyaluronic acid injector
“pens”
, lidocaine anesthetic creams and even fat-burning substances.
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No medical or beautician training
According to them, the manager of the store also
"engaged in an illegal activity of injecting hyaluronic acid and microneedlings (microperforations for aesthetic purposes, Editor's note) on her relatives and customers"
, even if she did not had
“no medical or beautician training”
for this .
Maître Benayoun denounces for his part
“a certain legal vacuum”
on the legality of the use or sale of certain new products.
The manager's spouse, father of their two children, served, according to the accusation, as a
“nominee”
and recipient of imports to their home in the suburbs of Bordeaux.
This 43-year-old Senegalese man is also being prosecuted.