"I did not think an over-the-counter product could be unsafe."

[parabolic]

Article about a girl whose overuse of a muscle cream apparently led to her death, due to toxic levels of methyl salicylate:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/09/musclecream.death.ap/index.html

I'm just curious as to what you all think about it-- I don't know if there was a overdose warning on the box of cream, but the mother's quote (the title of this thread, and found at the end of the article) is more alarming in a greater sense.

In general, how much of the public do you think believes that OTC products are completely safe? Ballpark figure? I'm not in pharmacy school yet, so I haven't had any classes on this sort of thing.

Thanks.

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[gaba101]

Article about a girl whose overuse of a muscle cream apparently led to her death, due to toxic levels of methyl salicylate:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/09/musclecream.death.ap/index.html

I'm just curious as to what you all think about it-- I don't know if there was a overdose warning on the box of cream, but the mother's quote (the title of this thread, and found at the end of the article) is more alarming in a greater sense.

In general, how much of the public do you think believes that OTC products are completely safe? Ballpark figure? I'm not in pharmacy school yet, so I haven't had any classes on this sort of thing.

Thanks.

yeah, seriously, when i read that this morning, i was like wtf? i don't think the general public is aware that all OTC products were once Rx meds before receiving their OTC status. I suppose after this incident, the manufacturer will put a bigger 'black box' type of warning on the box.

 

[sdn1977]

Not quite the case - not all OTC products were rx. Aspirin, acetaminophen, pseudoephedrine & guiafenesin were not rx....at least not in my state.

When I was in school....it was often mentioned that aspirin could never be granted OTC status at that time (& that was a loooong time ago). But, once on the market, very hard to take it off - unless you're in the right political party with a grudge or "purpose".

But - yeah - I think the general public feels that its ok to take OTC products (& herbals for that matter) without any undue harm. That's why the labeling is changing - not that the public reads the labels. They just can go back & see that yes, indeed, their liver failure is due to taking acetaminophen for greater than the daily limit & for longer than recommended.

But - we've got people going overboard on all sorts of stuff - yogurt, bran, grapefruit, Adkins bars - whatever.....

You can't give people common sense - they either have it or not.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I just want to know how much Bengay a person needs to apply in order to kill themsevles. That's one of those random things i'd like to know.

 

[bananaface]

I wonder if it was a case of chronic use or a one time thing, and if she had any preexisting conditions that contributed.

 

[psychoandy]

Wow, like 2 weeks ago my prof mentioned how ben gay is totally innocuous but can contribute to high salicylate levels.

Do you think side effects would have manifested beforehand? I mean if she slathered both of her legs with a tube everyday it might have been pretty fast, but I would hypothesize that she might have typical N&V before you know, death. Of course, since she's an athlete and using ben gay she probably felt crappy already so who knows.

 

[bulldogpharmd]

Article about a girl whose overuse of a muscle cream apparently led to her death, due to toxic levels of methyl salicylate:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/09/musclecream.death.ap/index.html

I'm just curious as to what you all think about it-- I don't know if there was a overdose warning on the box of cream, but the mother's quote (the title of this thread, and found at the end of the article) is more alarming in a greater sense.

In general, how much of the public do you think believes that OTC products are completely safe? Ballpark figure? I'm not in pharmacy school yet, so I haven't had any classes on this sort of thing.

Thanks.

When you get to pharmacy school you will learn. No OTC is 100%safe. The wrong drug, in the wrong patient, and wrong dose is all it takes. Methyl salicylate is just that a salicylate. My OTC prof pounded this methyl salicylate warning into our heads. Salicylates such as aspirin, pepto-bismol, methyl salicylate she pounded in our head that pt should avoid using these together and watch doses when used seperatly. She told us of someone dying before from methyl salicylate. No otc is safe. FUn fact: the safest OTC would prob be simethicone bc it has no drug interactions and is not absorbed from the gi tract and you would prob have to take a truck load of pills to OD on simethicone. Otherwise she said NO other OTC is safe if you mix it with the wrong situation. REMEMBER OTC are DRUGS. Even petrolatum which she said was the number 2 safest otc had a drawback....you cant put it on a fungal infection. We had a awesome OTC class at Drake that forced us to do ALOT of outside reading. We read the APhA NONprescription drug almost cover to cover