Scott, my husband, works for the FDA. He’s always been a bit (sometimes a lot) paranoid. His OCD tendencies are a running joke around here. Friends are tentative to invite us over for dinner for fear he won’t think the meat is cooked to temp or he might spy some cross contamination. I often have to reel him back to reality, reminding him that germs aren’t always a bad thing, and that he, in fact, survived many of the things he tries so hard to prevent Kendall from coming into contact with.
Pregnancy is always an especially trying time because, in his effort to protect his unborn child, he becomes even more obsessed with the things I put in my body. It drives me nuts, mainly because I hate to be told what to do. I know his intentions are good, and I try to look at it from his side, but I’m not a crack whore. It’s not like I’m huffing paint.
I can’t blame the guy, though. It’s his JOB. You can’t see what he sees and know what he knows and not react this way. I get that. And I’ll admit my natural instinct to challenge authority causes me to balk at his suggestions more than I should. (Though there really are sometimes that he’s completely lost it, and I need to straight up tell him that if he asks me one more time if I washed the grapes before I ate them I’m going to cut off his balls… or I just neglect to tell him about how Kendall licked the bottom of some other kid’s shoes at the Chick Fil A playground.)
Well, in case you haven’t heard, The FDA has issued a Consumer Safety Alert for Hyland’s Teething Tablets, stating,
Hyland’s Teething Tablets are manufactured to contain a small amount of belladonna, a substance that can cause serious harm at larger doses. For such a product, it is important that the amount of belladonna be carefully controlled. FDA laboratory analysis, however, has found that Hyland’s Teething Tablets contain inconsistent amounts of belladonna. In addition, the FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in children taking this product that are consistent with belladonna toxicity. The FDA has also received reports of children who consumed more tablets than recommended, because the containers do not have child resistant caps.
Back when Kendall was beginning to teeth, and consequently become possessed, I was desperate for any sort of relief. These tablets got rave reviews across all the mommy message boards and from anyone I asked face to face. My pediatrician even said they were worth a shot. Scott, however, was not convinced. He didn’t like that they were a homeopathic, not as tightly regulated substance. “How bad could they be?!” I argued. Why oh why couldn’t he just chill and let me give the kid the damn magic tablets? EVERYONE else was doing it, it seemed. I was convinced he was overly paranoid once again. Hell, at least I wasn’t seriously considering the “whiskey on the gums” advice everyone over the age of 40 was telling me.
Well, he was right, and that sucks. That sucks because that means kids got sick off this stuff. And as much as I hate to eat crow, I apologized to Scott tonight. He wasn’t surprised to hear about the recall and advisory (he doesn’t hear about all of this stuff before it’s public since he’s on the food end of things), and, unlike how I may have reacted, he wasn’t “I told you so” at all about it. I know, though, that he’s storing this little win in his back pocket. The next time I want to give one of the kids some wonder-drug, I just know he’s going to remind me of the teething tablet debacle… and maybe he’ll be right… and maybe I’ll not put up such a big fight.
Hyland’s Teething Tablets have issued a voluntary recall. Check here for more info.
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