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FDA Confirms Toxicity of Homeopathic Baby Products; Maker Refuses to Recall

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

Fnord666 writes:

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: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday February 01 2017, @01:03PM

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Wednesday February 01 2017, @01:03PM (#461630) Journal

    I'm pretty sure people might think twice about purchasing it if they called Belladonna by its other name, deadly nightshade. From Wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:

    Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant (rhizomatous hemicryptophyte) in the Nightshade family (which includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, etc.)

    And the first sentence under Toxicity:

    Belladonna is one of the most toxic plants found in the Eastern Hemisphere.

    I'm at a loss for words.

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  • (Score: 2) by jdavidb on Wednesday February 01 2017, @05:24PM

    by jdavidb (5690) on Wednesday February 01 2017, @05:24PM (#461705) Homepage Journal
    Belladonna has been used as a painkiller for a long time, according to that article. And the tablets do seem to work, so apparently, as some have pointed out, there are levels of belladonna in the product beyond homeopathic levels. So I'm curious what those levels are and how consistent they are.
    --
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  • (Score: 2) by dry on Thursday February 02 2017, @02:59AM

    by dry (223) on Thursday February 02 2017, @02:59AM (#461870) Journal

    It can't be that bad, otherwise our wonderful governments would have illegalized it as they have other harmful herbs.

  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday February 02 2017, @05:21AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Thursday February 02 2017, @05:21AM (#461887) Journal

    The article you linked has seven paragraphs enumerating uses for the plant, or extracts of it, in conventional medicine.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atropa_belladonna#Medicinal_uses [wikipedia.org]