The CDC: Please Stop Drinking Hand Sanitizer. It's Killing People.

[Celerity]

The CDC implored people not to ingest alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing methanol, while noting 15 recent cases in which people were hospitalized after doing so. All of the patients got methanol poisoning, and four patients died.

https://nowthisnews.com/news/the-cdc-please-stop-drinking-hand-sanitizer-its-killing-people



Federal health officials are warning the population not to drink hand sanitizer after two states reported several people had died after consuming contaminated disinfectants. In a Wednesday statement, the CDC implored people not to ingest alcohol-based hand sanitizers, as well as to avoid all use of any containing methanol. The CDC noted 15 recent cases of people who drank hand sanitizer and were hospitalized with methanol poisoning.

As hand sanitizer use and consumption has grown during the coronavirus pandemic, the CDC recommends an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent ethanol (which is also referred to as ethyl alcohol). Methanol can be deadly when ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. Products containing more than 4 percent methanol in the U.S. must be labeled as “poison,” according to Bioenergy International.

The cases between May 1 and June 30, 2020 flagged by the CDC were reported in Arizona and New Mexico. In the most severe cases, four patients died, and three were discharged with visual impairment, the CDC said. “Alcohol-based hand sanitizer products should never be ingested,” the report stated. “In patients with compatible signs and symptoms or after having swallowed hand sanitizer, prompt evaluation for methanol poisoning is required. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams echoed the CDC’s warnings on Twitter.

Link to tweet

“Swallowing hand sanitizers that contain methanol can cause permanent blindness or death, if not treated,” he said.

In mid-June, the Food and Drug Administration, which approves which hand sanitizers are safe to use, warned consumers of a sharp increase in hand sanitizers that are labeled to contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol), but that have tested positive for methanol contamination. The administration also listed hand sanitizers and manufacturers to avoid. In April, President Trump floated the concept of coronavirus patients being injected with disinfectant — which health officials vehemently urged against. “Please do not ingest or inject disinfectant,” orthopaedic surgeon Dr. John Shields tweeted in April. “I feel like one should not have to say this.”

[SheltieLover]

1. 🙄

Why would anyone listen to chump?

And why isn't he in jail for practicing medicine without a license?

[Turbineguy]

2. Trump needs all the votes he can get.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Where Are People Getting Methanol Based HS?

It's not made in the united states, because it's not part of the registered formulary. And, because it's a poison, it's a felony to use it. (Yes, it's cheaper than ethanol or isopropanol in bulk, but not so much that it would worth the risk of jail time. It would be EASY to get caught.)
This first came up a few months ago when Amazon & Walgreen's online were selling these products from a Mexican manufacturer. When they were informed that it wasn't a legal product, they pulled it as an offering.
CVC & RiteAid were never offering it.
Who the heck is still selling this stuff? They sure shouldn't be.

[LeftInTX]

6. They're still coming from Mexico

I think this is kinda like the Chinese seeds. These are PSA announcements to remind people to not use these products.

They are finding more manufacturers, all from Mexico and the FDA is pulling them. But I also think these messages are getting pushed by the FDA. People will have this in their homes. They may not have heard a previous message. The more the message is repeated, the more likely they are going to hear it or remember it.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Not Criticizing The Warning

It's a perfectly responsible PSA.
But, which vendors are still selling it, instead of returning it to the manufacturer?
The supply chain for products within the formulary is fully recovered.
That's especially true as distillers that never made it before added this to their portfolios when people were desperate for it.
In fact, some of those places were set up as contract manufacturers by the major label companies.
These dangerous variants aren't even needed.
Nobody(!) should still be offering these products.
(BTW: they're not legal in Europe, the UK, or Japan either.)

[LeftInTX]

9. I don't know

The list is not user friendly

Some of these products have never entered the US. By being on the list, they are banned from import.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-hand-sanitizers-consumers-should-not-use

I think the most recent adds are on page 5.....(Right in the middle of the document...)

[Make7]

4. "And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning."

THE PRESIDENT: Right. And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. ...

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-31/

[Celerity]

7. How to medical

Link to tweet

[nitpicker]

5. I heard one person said he drank mouthwash

before going in for treatment.

[Journeyman]

10. Hey, CDC, I'll consider that, but first you have to tell me what to do with this UV light . . .