Shades of 1937 and AMO's Response - June 4, 2007

On June 1, FDA issued an Import Alert to prevent toothpaste containing the poisonous chemical diethylene glycol from entering the United States.

Diethylene glycol is the same ingredient that led to deaths of over 100 people in 1937 during the infamous elixir of sulfanilamide incident. This tragedy led directly to the passage of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938.

Read FDA's Press Release as well as an FDA article, "Taste of Raspberries, Taste of Death," detailing the 1937 incident. Go to www.gmptrainingsystems.com/asp/resources.asp
Click on Timely Resource Articles and scroll down.

Here's a quick follow-up to last week's recall by Advanced Medical Optics.

The company said it "Stands by its product and blamed improper handling of contact lenses for the eye infections that forced the product to be pulled from the shelves."

Do you think it's a smart strategy to blame your customers?

Would it not have been a better strategy to say something like, "Together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we are continuing to investigate the cause of the eye infections that seem to be associated with one of our products. Because we value the health and welfare of our customers, we have voluntarily recalled the product. We will continue to search for the possible causes and immediately rectify any issues should they prove to be associated with our manufacturing or distribution processes."

Stay tuned to see how this develops.

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