Botox is a bizarre procedure - paralysing muscles to smooth out expression lines on the face - but it has been embraced by the wealthy and image-conscious around the world.
In the US, people have Botox parties, where medics with sharp marketing skills line up clients, lay on the drinks and nibbles, and call in each one for a quick consult and a few jabs in the offending wrinkles.
A regular reader thinks her mother in her 50s might be a candidate for cosmetic surgery. She says she has heard a lot about the wonders of Botox, but wants to know if it's safe.
She's right to ask. No matter how long a drug has been known to humans, it may never be totally safe. Even aspirin kills if given to the wrong person in the wrong dosage at the wrong time.
Botox, although heavily marketed by its makers as a wonder drug, is a poison.
It comes from a toxin produced by a bacteria - clostridium botulinum - which causes a lethal form of food poisoning. It acts by poisoning the communication channel between a nerve and the muscle it controls. This prevents signals ordering the muscle to contract from getting through, so the muscle no longer functions.