National Head Lice Organization Rejects New Guidelines BOSTON, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The long awaited new guidelines from Contemporary Pediatrics for treating head lice are finally available, reflecting bad news for Moms concerned about using ineffective or toxic pesticides on their children and great news for pharmaceutical companies making $200 million a year on these products. The guidelines recommend two treatments of over-the-counter chemical pediculicides followed by two treatments of Ovide, the pesticide Malathion, left on a child's head for 12 hours per treatment. The effect of this dose of Malathion on children under six has not been studied. According to Consumer Reports "The Malathion contained in a single Ovide treatment can be up to 30 times the recognized safe one-time dose for a young child." The new guidelines emerged from a working group conference held at Harvard School of Public Health, sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Medicis, makers of Ovide. Absent from the list of invitees were two groups, which have worked tirelessly to advocate a common sense approach to the current headlice epidemic: the American Head Lice Information & Resource Center and the National Pediculosis Association. Both groups maintain it is unnecessary and inadvisable to use ineffective, highly toxic pesticides to eliminate headlice. The American Head Lice Information & Resource Center teaches a non-toxic protocol using olive oil to smother lice in their book and video, "Head Lice to Dead Lice" winner of the "Freddie" for "Best Community Health Video" from the AMA, and endorsed by former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop. "Anyone who's battled headlice in the past few years knows that products like Nix and Rid are no longer working. You'd have to have your head in the sand not to have heard about the potential dangers of Malathion," states Ms. Sawyer, co-founder of the American Head Lice Information & Resource Center. "Frankly, we're surprised that Contemporary Pediatrics would take such a strong pro-chemical approach. When Rid advertises that 'Nothing' is more effective than Rid,' they're not lying. You probably are better off doing 'nothing.'" "Pharmaceutical companies influencing public health policy, is a problem," Sawyer observes. SOURCE American Head Lice Information & Resource Center |
(Additional Information: Malathion is an organophosphate. Organophosphates are being linked to Mad Cow Disease and several other brain disorders.)