Health Canada Issues Warning for Herbal Children's Product

Health Canada Issues Warning for Herbal Children's Product

OTTAWA--Health Canada issued an advisory warning Canadians thatBejai Bowyantan should not be used with children because it has a similartoxicity profile to camphor, a substance which may be especially toxic to youngbodies. Health Canada (www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/index.html)reports the product is labeled as containing 5 percent borneolum syntheticum, amonoterpene with a toxicity profile similar to camphor.

The product is imported from China to treat infants with the flu, fever,stomach aches, diarrhea, night crying and sleep problems. The agency reportedthis product may cause serious adverse reactions, including death. To date, noadverse reactions have been reported in Canada related to this product.

Bejai Bowyantan comes in vials containing .9 grams of brown powder.Instructions for use recommend the powder be mixed with boiling water and takenthree times per day; in addition, instructions recommend half a vial be used forbabies under one month old, one vial for babies more than a month old and two tothree vials for children three to nine years old. "These products are moretoxic for children, but they're also toxic for everyone else," aspokesperson at Health Canada told INSIDER.

No particular company was named in the advisory, and at present Health Canadais currently attempting to identify all importers of this product, and it willissue a customs alert to prevent further shipments of this product from enteringthe country.

In the United States, a 1994 policy statement released by the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics (www.aap.org) reportedthat the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recognized camphor as a safe andeffective topical antitussive, analgesic, anesthetic and antipruritic agent. FDArequires that the concentration of camphor in products not to exceed 11 percent,however, due to possible side effects.