On December 5, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration warned five medical supply companies to halt compounding and distributing a number of popular topical anesthetic creams used in a variety of medical and cosmetic areas. The firms subject to this order are:
• Triangle Compounding Pharmacy • University Pharmacy • Custom Scripts Pharmacy • Hal’s Compounding Pharmacy • New England Compounding Center
These companies are allowed to mix certain chemicals widely available to medical suppliers in order to create a unique product due to the time honored skill of pharmacy compounding. In years past, pharmacists combined drugs in order to suit the specific needs of individuals that could not be met by available drugs, or because patients had allergies to common medications. This tradition is not overseen by the FDA, because it was mostly done on a local level without wide-scale reproduction for mass market.
Unfortunately, not everyone responds to these drugs the same way, and because the FDA does not oversee the mixing it is impossible to determine any potential outcome on any one person. These creams contain high number of local anesthetics that include:
• Lidocaine • Tetracaine • Benzocain • Prilocaine
The danger is amplified because these creams are often used after tattoo removal, laser hair removal, or skin treatments that often require the treated area to be covered with anesthetic tape, plastic bandage, or dressing that concentrates the drugs into the body, thereby increasing the likelihood of potential injury.
It is difficult to determine the number of people potentially affected by these creams, but the FDA believes that a significant risk exists.
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