Plain Talk From FDA on Potassium Iodide Frenzy

There's no need to stockpile potassium iodide tablets and the public should be wary of fake anti-radiation products being peddled to consumers, the Food and Drug Administration says.

On a recently added Radiation Safety FDA.gov page that answers "Questions About Medical Products," the agency says there are just three products approved "for use as an adjunct to other public health protective measures in the event that radioactive iodine is released into the environment":

• Iosat Tablets (130 mg), Anbex, Inc., Williamsburg, Va., https://www.anbex.com 
• ThyroSafe Tablets (65 mg), Recipharm AB, Jordbro, Sweden, https://www.thyrosafe.com
• ThyroShield Solution (65 mg/mL), Fleming & Company Pharmaceuticals, Fenton, Mo. https://www.thyroshield.com

Effective for reducing the risk of thyroid cancer, potassium iodide (KI) limits the uptake of radioactive iodine. Supplies of KI pills have flown off store shelves in the United States since the start of the nuclear disaster in Japan following the March 12 earthquake. (See earlier blog post, Potassium Iodide is Popular Pill.)

FDA-approved products that increase the rate of elimination of other radioactive elements include:

• Calcium-DTPA and Zinc DTPA, Hameln Pharmaceuticals (approved to treat known or suspected internal contamination with plutonium, americium, or curium to increase the rates of elimination).
• Radiogardase (Prussian blue insoluble capsules), HEYL Chemisch-Pharmazeutische Fabrik GmbH & Co. KG (approved to treat known or suspected internal contamination with radioactive cesium and/or radioactive or non-radioactive thallium to increase their rates of elimination).

"Despite the fact that there is no public health event in the U.S. requiring KI, FDA is aware of an increased demand for KI products. FDA is working with these companies to facilitate increased production. FDA can’t provide an exact date on when that might happen but it will occur as quickly as possible," the agency writes.

Fraudulent products offered for sale may include dietary supplements, food items, or products purporting to be drugs, devices or vaccines, the FDA cautions.

The FDA urges consumers and health care professionals  to "report adverse side effects or medication errors from the use of both approved and unapproved radiation exposure products to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program at www.fda.gov/MedWatch or by calling 800-332-1088."

--Lori B. Farmer