Medical creams to be pulled off the shelf???

[BlackAdder]

NEW YORK - A medical examiner blamed a 17-year-old track star's death on the use of too much muscle cream, the kind used to soothe aching legs after exercise.

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Arielle Newman, a cross-country runner at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island, died after her body absorbed high levels of methyl salicylate, an anti-inflammatory found in sports creams such as Bengay and Icy Hot, the New York City medical examiner said Friday.

The medical examiner's spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said the teen used "topical medication to excess." She said it was the first time that her office had reported a death from using a sports cream.

Newman, who garnered numerous track awards, died April 13. She had gone to a party the night before, then returned home and spent hours talking with her mother.

Methyl salicylate poisoning is unusual, and deaths from high levels of the chemical are rare.

"Chronic use is more dangerous than one-time use," Edward Arsura, chairman of medicine at Richmond University Medical Center, told the Staten Island Advance on Friday. "Exercise and heat can accentuate absorption."

Dr. Ronald Grelsamer, of Mount Sinai Medical Center, said Newman had a very abnormal amount of methyl salicylate in her body.

"She either lathered herself with it, or used way too much, or she used a normal amount and an abnormal percentage was absorbed into her body," he said.

Her mother, Alice Newman, said she still couldn't believe her daughter's death was caused by a sports cream.

"I am scrupulous about my children's health," she told the Advance. "I did not think an over-the-counter product could be unsafe."





Im sorry for her loss and its really strange but its really her dumbass comment at the end the pissed me off...Like the government should hold our hands with what we choose to consume??? Yeah, so if I go swallow a whole bottle of painkillers im going to be okay right??? NOO damage to my kidneys or liver whatsoever.... OMG i had no idea that consuming that WHOLE of extra strength nyquil would have that effect! It was on the counter and they just sold it to me!!! I thought it was *SAFE*!!!.

I can already see the class action lawyers lining up..

[Nalos6]

You really have to think, do we know what's in half of the products we use, I'm pretty certain the general consumer isn't going to have an obsession on researching ever single product they use. The general assumption now is that they'll pull the products from the shelf, and slap an excessive use warning on the package. Darn sad though that a poor girl had to learn it the hard way.

[BeardedOne]

A local grade-school girl keeled over in class recently and it was found that she had alcohol poisoning from licking hand sanitizer off of her skin (They have a high isopropyl alcohol content to air-dry quickly). She survived, but it's scary to see how easily someone can encounter this stuff.

Pretty much anything can kill you, under the right set of circumstances. Remember the contestant in "Hold Your Wee For A Wii"? Died from consuming too much water. How about marshmallows? Pretty safe, right? A woman died at a state fair about a year ago after being in a marshmallow eating contest. She asperated the goo of the half-eaten marshmallows and suffocated. Even had EMTs reached her quickly there was no way to get the gunk out of her lungs.

I want my Vioxx back. :?

[mph]

Nearly all over-the-counter treatments have some sort of warning for all bases. I know sports creams usually have something like "Do not use longer than such-and-such period of time." or "Do not use more than this much of this product in a 24-hour period."

About that girl licking sanitizer off her hand, that was her own stupidity. That sanitizer had a warning along the lines of "Do not take internally." or "Not for internal use. In case of accidental ingestion, contact a poison control center immediately."

I wouldn't be surprised if her death was a combination of too much usage and possibly a severe allergic reaction.

Personally, I put the blame solely on the inattentiveness of people who don't pay attention to warnings (like Miss Athlete), and the irresponsibility of parents by not explaining warning labels to their children (like the little hand-licker).