The FDA issued a recall announcement this past week for products containing belladonna extract created by Raritan Pharmaceuticals.
The extract is particularly common in homeopathic drugs. Raritan Pharmaceuticals is a contract manufacturer for Homeolab USA, and their belladonna extract can be found in products sold across America.
The FDA announced the news on November 24 after discovering, during testing, that they had found belladonna alkaloids in the Raritan Pharmaceuticals products. Raritan Pharmaceuticals Inc. issued its own voluntary recall announcement that same day.
During testing, the FDA recovered “varying levels of belladonna extract content from what is declared on the label”.
Belladonna Extract Recalled Products
All of the following products are being voluntarily recalled:
- CVS Homeopathic Infants’ Teething Tablets (135 tablets)
- Kids Relief Homeopathic Ear Relief Oral Liquid (0.85 fl. oz)
- CVS Homeopathic Kids’ Ear Relief Liquid (0.85 fl. oz)
All of these products were found to have a very small amount of belladonna extract, which is a substance that can be harmful at larger doses.
If you currently own any of these products, you should immediately stop using them.
Raritan Pharmaceuticals chose to voluntarily recall the products “out of an abundance of caution”, explains their press release.
The first product on the list, the CVS Homeopathic Infants’ Teething Tablets, were pulled from CVS shelves in September, although the FDA did not state whether or not this was related to the presence of belladonna extract.
[ CVS has had some issues in the past with other products such as Algal-900 DHA Omega-3 Algae that they were sued. ]
No other Homeolab or Raritan products were affected by the recall.
If you have any questions regarding the recall, you can get in touch with Raritan Pharmaceuticals by phone at 1-866-467-2748. Customers with any symptoms or signs of health problems are encouraged to talk to their medical provider.
To be clear, all of the above products had “belladonna extract” on their labels. However, the FDA’s testing showed that the ingredient was found at a greater concentration than listed on the label. Customers knew they were taking belladonna extract, but they were unaware of the correct concentration.
Raritan Pharmaceuticals is based in East Brunswick, New Jersey. You can visit their official website here.
