FDA reporting inconsistent levels of deadly nightshade in Hyland’s teething gel

The FDA is reporting inconsistent and sometimes elevated levels of Belladonna, aka deadly Nightshade in Hyland’s teething gel.

The investigation started after 10 deaths and over 400 sickened potentially by homeopathic teething gels. This is over the course of six years, so it’s not like it’s one bad batch that hit them all at once.

The long and short of it is if you believe in homeopathy, you might consider that tiny amounts of nightshade might be useful for numbing of the teeth (as an anesthetic to deaden the nerves,) however the FDA has found inconsistent levels across the same product with some exceeding safe or advertised levels.

It appear the National Center for Homeopathy decided to form a task force last month to figure out how they can spin this positively. Not warn people of a potentially compromised vendor, just how to spin it. So very odd I don’t see anything on their news feed warning of inconsistent levels.

Hyland’s says they have decided to stop offering the teething medicines so that there’s no “confusion among parents.” Nightshade is a poison, don’t think there’s confusion about that. You can measure amounts of it. There’s not much confusion about that. Unless they’re saying the FDA’s testing methods were flawed or that they have proof of the levels they were shipping out I don’t see any confusion here.

So anyway, 400 kids sickened, 10 dead, potentially because of this or similar. Not that numbing gels have all that much of a better track record.

Toss it, or have it tested for what the actual levels of the potential poison are if you’re planning on keeping it around.

Symptoms of Nightshade poisoning can include:

Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and throat
Dry mouth
Enlarged (dilated) pupils
Gastrointestinal
Diarrhea
Stomach pain
Vomiting
Heart and blood
Pulse – slow or rapid
Shock
Lungs
Slowed breathing
Nervous system
Delirium
Fever
Hallucinations
Headache
Loss of sensation
Paralysis
Whole body
Sweating