FDA finds belladonna in homeopathic teething products for babies.
The United States’ Food and Drug Administration has released a warning for any parents that have purchased homeopathic teething products, as they have found an inconsistent amount of poisonous belladonna. The FDA simply recommends that all the products must be discarded to avoid any further possible exposure.
Homeopathic teething products which contain small amounts of belladonna are widely used by parents who want to provide temporary pain relief to their babies just as their first teeth being to show. This type of products have been popular in the US ever since the 1900s.
However, a new report from the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, led by the Dr. Janet Woodcock, has revealed that the belladonna can cause an unpredictable response in the bodies of babies which are younger than two years. This puts the toddlers at unnecessary risk and the homeopathic teething products should be carefully avoided.
As an alternative, the FDA recommends that parents should consult their health care professionals to safer options and ways to provide the same relief to babies, but without any dangers. Furthermore, in cases where the babies start to experience seizures, lethargy, difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, constipation, or agitation after using teething products, parents should immediately seek medical care.
The FDA previously warned parents about the danger of teething products in 2016, after it received a few dozen reports about babies experiencing adverse effects like seizures or even in extreme cases, infant deaths.
Furthermore, the homeopathic teething products have not been approved nor properly evaluated by the FDA for their proposed effectiveness to provide relief for babies or their overall safety standards. Thus, the agency has not confirmed the supposed health benefits of such products.
The homeopathic teething products targeted by the warning of the FDA are mainly produced by a company based in Los Angeles known as Hyland, which outsource the actual manufacturing to the Standard Homeopathic Company. At this point, the company did not issue a recall of their products despite the FDA’s suggestion. However, in the past, companies like Raritan Pharmaceuticals have recalled several of their teething products due to the levels of belladonna.
What do you think about the FDA’s warning regarding the homeopathic products?
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Michael Turner
