Alabama woman accused of giving imported Botox injections without license
Published 9:13 pm Thursday, March 3, 2022
A Birmingham-area woman was charged with practicing medicine without a license after an investigation showed she was importing unapproved Botox and giving injections, authorities said Thursday.
Albina Cherkes, 57, of Irondale was arrested by Homewood police on charges of falsely representing herself as a dermatologist after a Mountain Brook woman complained about the reaction she had to an injection that Cherkes gave her, according to a statement by the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners.
While the statement described Cherkes as being Russian, court records indicate she has lived in Alabama for several years. A Facebook site describes her as a dermatologist from Russia and an esthetician in the United States.
Court documents weren’t immediately available to show whether Cherkes had a lawyer who could speak on her behalf, and authorities did not release any information about the woman who filed the complaint. The Food and Drug Administration also received an anonymous tip, the statement said.
The investigation included officers from the U.S. Secret Service, several Birmingham-area cities and Walmart.