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posted by mrpg on Wednesday February 01 2017, @07:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the parents-these-days dept.

Beth Mole at ArsTechnica has an article about the levels of belladonna in homeopathic teething products made by Hyland's:

After investigating reports that more than 400 babies were sickened and 10 died in connection with homeopathic teething products, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Friday that it had indeed found elevated levels of the toxic substance, belladonna, in the products.

Belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade, was the prime suspect of the investigation from the beginning, which Ars reported about last fall. Nevertheless, the products' maker, Hyland's, would not agree to recall the products when it was notified of the FDA's conclusion, the agency reported

In a response to Ars, Hyland's has acknowledged that there are some inconsistencies in the amount of belladonna in its products, but the company said that it has not seen any evidence from the FDA indicating that the elevated levels were toxic or excessive. [...]The FDA said it had found inconsistent amounts of belladonna in Hyland's products. Some of the amounts were "far exceeding" what was intended.

[...] As before, the FDA is urging parents to avoid the homeopathic teething products and toss any already purchased. The FDA does not evaluate or approve the homeopathic products, which have no proven health benefit.

Also: Hylands FAQ about the discontinuation.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday February 01 2017, @07:49PM

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday February 01 2017, @07:49PM (#461760) Journal
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +1  
       Informative=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   3  
  • (Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday February 01 2017, @08:52PM

    by sjames (2882) on Wednesday February 01 2017, @08:52PM (#461789) Journal

    Thank you, good information.

    Unfortunately, it confirms my suspicion. The biggest outlier of the lot was a single pill that contained 1.1 MICRO-gram of atropine. The dose used medically is .01-.05 mg/kg. So, definitely don't give the baby 70 pills at once. It seems unlikely that a dose of 1/70th the minimum dose used in medicine is the cause of any deaths.

    It does suggest that tightening up process controls is in order but a mass recall probably is not.