List of medicine contamination incidents
Encyclopedia
The following list encompasses notable medicine contamination incidents.
- 1937 Elixir sulfanilamide incident: S. E. Massengill CompanyS. E. Massengill CompanyS. E. Massengill Company was a pharmaceutical company started in 1898. It was founded by Samuel Evans Massengill, who graduated from the University of Nashville Medical School, but decided to manufacture drugs rather than practice medicine himself...
used diethylene glycolDiethylene glycolDiethylene glycol is an organic compound with the formula 2O. It is a colorless, practically odorless, poisonous, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste. It is miscible in water, alcohol, ether, acetone, and ethylene glycol. DEG is a widely used solvent...
as the solvent, it led to the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic ActFederal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic ActThe United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act , is a set of laws passed by Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics. A principal author of this law was Royal S. Copeland, a three-term U.S. Senator from...
- 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders1982 Chicago Tylenol murdersThe Chicago Tylenol murders occurred when seven people died after taking pain-relief medicine capsules that had been poisoned. The poisonings, code-named TYMURS by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, took place in late 1982 in the Chicago area of the United States.These poisonings involved...
: TylenolTylenolTylenol is a North American brand of drugs advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, cough, and flu. The active ingredient of its original, flagship product, paracetamol , is marketed as an analgesic and antipyretic...
pain-relief capsules were laced with potassium cyanidePotassium cyanidePotassium cyanide is an inorganic compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline compound, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications include jewelry for chemical gilding and...
, leading to 7 deaths.
- 2007 Panamanian Eduardo AriasEduardo AriasEduardo Arias is a Panamanian citizen of Kuna Indian descent, whose discovery of contaminated toothpaste saved lives by alerting the public to potentially poisonous products purchased from China.-Early life:...
discovered that toothpaste sold in his country was labeled as containing diethylene glycolDiethylene glycolDiethylene glycol is an organic compound with the formula 2O. It is a colorless, practically odorless, poisonous, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste. It is miscible in water, alcohol, ether, acetone, and ethylene glycol. DEG is a widely used solvent...
, the same ingredient that had tainted cough syrup and killed 138 Panamanians in 2006. Panamanian officials discovered that the toothpaste had come from China and initiated a global response. Also in May 2007 the same toothpaste was found in some Costa Rican stores. Fast action by the Ministry of Health, and notification through the media, prevented poisonings due to this product. This event was linked to the death sentence of a former pharmaceuticals control officer in China, as the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación reported on its issue of May 30th. On June 4, 2007, a press release by the Chinese Foreign Ministry cited an earlier study in China which concluded that up to 15.6% diethylene glycol in toothpaste is safe. In June 2007, counterfeit ColgateColgate (toothpaste)Colgate is an oral hygiene product line of toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes and dental floss.-Duraphat:Duraphat is a professional strength paste intended for the treatment and prevention of dental caries....
toothpaste imported from China was found to be contaminated with DEG, and several people in eastern US reported experiencing headaches and pain after using the product.. The same occurred in Spain with a false Colgate toothpaste, which contained 6% DEG. The tainted products could be identified by the claim to be manufactured in South Africa by Colgate-Palmolive South Africa LTD; they were 5oz/100ml tubes (a size which Colgate does not sell in the United States) and their packaging contained numerous misspellings on the labels. Colgate-Palmolive claimed that it does not import their products from South Africa into the United States or Canada and that DEG is never and was never used in any of its products anywhere in the world. These counterfeit products were found in smaller mom and pop stores, dollar stores and discount stores in at least four states. In July 2007, diethylene glycol was found in counterfeit Sensodyne toothpaste, on sale at a car boot sale in Derbyshire, England,
- 2007 Toxic cough syrupToxic cough syrupToxic cough syrup refers to a 2007 scandal with Panamanian pharmaceutical manufacturers using diethylene glycol, which they believed to be glycerine, to make cough syrup...
in PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
: Pharmaceutical manufacturers using diethylene glycolDiethylene glycolDiethylene glycol is an organic compound with the formula 2O. It is a colorless, practically odorless, poisonous, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste. It is miscible in water, alcohol, ether, acetone, and ethylene glycol. DEG is a widely used solvent...
, which they believed to be glycerine, to make cough syrup.
- 2008 Chinese heparin contamination2008 Chinese heparin contaminationIn March 2008, major recalls of heparin were announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration due to contamination of the raw heparin stock imported from China.-History:...
- 2009, 84 Nigerian children were reported to have died after being given "My Pikin", a teething syrup contaminated with diethylene glycolDiethylene glycolDiethylene glycol is an organic compound with the formula 2O. It is a colorless, practically odorless, poisonous, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste. It is miscible in water, alcohol, ether, acetone, and ethylene glycol. DEG is a widely used solvent...
.