FDA Recalls Teething Tablets

My wife and I love these magic little pills. Sometimes they seem to work, sometimes they don't, but at least we always think that we're helping our helpless, inconsolable infant when we pluck these homeopathic remedies off our Peoria supermarket shelves.

But, as with any pill, we are at the mercy of the manufacturer. We can only hope that the ingredient list is correct, because very few of us can confirm the contents in our basement laboratory. And once our child has ingested the tablet, we can only hope that the ingredients will perform as advertised.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that it had issued a warning regarding Hyland's Teething Tablets. Hyland's has initiated a recall of the product. Apparently, someone found an unhealthy amount of belladonna in the tablets, which are an extremely popular remedy for infant unrest.

Belladonna? It's the extract from a plant commonly called "Deadly Nightshade". I suppose any amount of that might be considered unhealthy. Of course, belladonna has been used medicinally throughout the ages, as have most other poisons.

This recall follows "reports of serious adverse events in children taking this product that are consistent with belladonna toxicity." A full list of symptoms can be found at the FDA's recall notification document.

A non-medicinal alternative for unhappy children is to allow them to chew on refrigerated plastic teething rings. Many stores sell soft plastic rings filled with liquid for this purpose.