{"id":366750,"date":"2026-10-07T11:36:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T11:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/366750\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T11:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T11:36:09","slug":"nyc-spa-owner-admits-using-illegal-botox-that-left-a-client-hospitalized-with-botulism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/366750\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Spa Owner Admits Using Illegal Botox That Left a Client Hospitalized With Botulism"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Manhattan med spa owner has admitted to using mislabeled Botox after a client became seriously ill and was hospitalized with botulism.<\/p>\n

Klara Shuster, also known as Klara Chrzuszcz, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit smuggling and related charges, The Guardian<\/a> reported Tuesday, October 6.<\/p>\n

Shuster also pleaded guilty to dispensing a misbranded drug with intent to defraud or mislead and to conspiring to dispense such a drug.<\/p>\n

According to her LinkedIn profile<\/a>, Shuster, an esthetician, owns Klara Beauty Lab on the Upper East Side.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged ordering a drug containing botulinum toxin \u2014 the active ingredient in Botox \u2014 from Korea over the internet and using it on clients, according to The Guardian.<\/p>\n

\"klarabeautylab\/Instagram\"<\/p>\n

Botulism is uncommon but can be life-threatening. The CDC<\/a> says it is caused by a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves and can lead to breathing trouble and muscle paralysis.<\/p>\n

New York state does not allow estheticians to prescribe or administer Botox, a prescription drug, according to Med Spa Standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I imported mislabeled Botox illegally to this country,” Shuster said at her plea hearing, according to the Guardian. “And then I dispensed it to clients mislabeled, and I knew it was against the law.”<\/p>\n

She said she did so “without the prescription and without any medical supervision.”<\/p>\n

“I plead guilty because I am guilty,” Shuster told the court. “And I am aware of that.”<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutor Joseph Rosenberg said one client became “quite sick” and was hospitalized after receiving the substance, per the outlet.<\/p>\n

\"<span<\/p>\n

When U.S. District Judge John Koeltl asked whether she had given a client a drug she represented as another product, resulting in that person being hospitalized with botulism, Shuster replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”<\/p>\n

Her attorney, Todd Spodek, said Shuster “has accepted responsibility for her actions.”<\/p>\n

“Her foremost concern is the health and wellbeing of her clients,” Spodek said per The Guardian.<\/p>\n

“She cares deeply about them and recognizes the responsibility that comes with the trust they placed in her.”<\/p>\n

She faces up to 13 years in prison and is tentatively set to be sentenced Wednesday, December 9.<\/p>\n

This story NYC Spa Owner Admits Using Illegal Botox That Left a Client Hospitalized With Botulism<\/a> first appeared on Globe<\/a>. Follow Globe<\/a> on <\/a>Yahoo<\/a> so you don’t miss what’s coming next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Manhattan med spa owner has admitted to using mislabeled Botox after a client became seriously ill and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-366750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}