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FDA Confirms Toxicity of Homeopathic Baby Products; Maker Refuses To Recall (arstechnica.com)
Last year in November, the Federal Trade Commission issued an enforcement policy statement that requires over-the-counter (OTC) homeopathic drugs and product makers to disclose in their advertisement and labeling that there is no evidence that homeopathic products are effective. At around the same time the FTC issued the statement, the Food and Drug Administration was investigating homeopathic teething gels and tablets, which may have been improperly diluted, thus causing serious harm to infants. The FDA investigated 10 infant deaths and more than 400 reports of seizures, fever, and vomiting and confirmed Friday that belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade, was the prime suspect. When the FDA notified the products' maker, Hyland's, the company would not agree to recall the products. Ars Technica reports: Hyland's has been defensive since the FDA first opened the investigation last September. In an October press release, the company referred to agency's warnings as a source of "confusion" and assured consumers that the products are safe and effective. Still, the company discontinued distribution in the U.S. The National Center for Homeopathy, which has ties with Hyland's, slammed the FDA, calling the agency's warnings "arbitrary and capricious." In an "action alert," the organization went on to suggest that warning was prompted by "groups interested in seeing homeopathy destroyed" and led to "fear mongering" by the media. 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. Belladonna is an active ingredient in those products, but is supposed to be heavily diluted. Homeopaths belief that ailments and diseases can be cured by trace amounts or "memories" of toxic substances that mimic or cause similar symptoms. Homeopathy is a pseudoscience that has been squarely debunked, offering no more than a placebo effect. In its announcement Friday, the FDA said it had found inconsistent amounts of belladonna in Hyland's products. Some of the amounts were "far exceeding" what was intended.
I am a father of 8, and I have plenty of anecdotal evidence that Hyland's teething tablets are effective, and I want to continue to use them for my baby. From what I have read, the effective ingredient in them is probably the belladonna rather than the homeopathic ingredients, but I am not aware of any alternatives, and as near as I can tell the FDA refuses to actually release their data, which doesn't sound much like science to me. Maybe that has changed.
It's misleading to say that Hyland's won't recall their product - they quit selling in the US months ago thanks to the FDA's pressure. There was a flap several years ago where Hyland's was yanked off of the market because of alleged inconsistent levels of ingredients and that was supposed to have been corrected or the FDA would never have let them back on the market.
I'd like to know if the product is really a problem here when used as directed and what the current consistency of the belladonna levels in the product is, but the FDA doesn't seem to be bending over backwards to provide that information to me. Several times since I became a father, useful medications for children and especially for infants have been pulled off the market simply because of claims that parents are using wrong dosages, and frankly while I wish other parents were literate enough to care for their children, I don't care about that enough to torture my own children by denying them effective medication. If infant tylenol cold and flu hadn't been yanked off the market for these ridiculous reasons years ago, I might give the FDA some more credibility, here. As it is, I see them as people who will willingly take away medicine from my babies, which is a special level of depravity.
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