Child who wore ‘homeopathic healing bracelet’ gets massive lead poisoning

The irony of the times we live in is that we have more access to information than ever before, yet people still believe homeopathy works. What’s worse is that some products marketed towards true believers can make them, and their children, very sick.

This Friday, the Centers for Disease Control highlighted a female infant from Connecticut who exhibited “normocytic anemia” and lead levels in her blood that were higher than normal. After ruling out that the lead came from a source in her home, the parents told investigators that the child sometimes wore a “homeopathic magnetic hematite healing bracelet” that they purchased at a local fair to the help child with teething pain.

Investigators found that the small “spacer beads” on the bracelet had a lead level of 17,000 parts-per-million. As Ars Technica points out, the Consumer Product Commission in 2010 set the minimum amount of lead in products for children at 100 parts-per-million.

From Ars Technica:

The authors of the report—Drs. Patricia Garcia and Jennifer Haile, lead treatment specialists at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center—noted that the bracelet had no warnings or branding. They added that they couldn’t get the fair’s vendor information and were unable to track down the bracelet’s maker.

A quick Google search shows the bracelets sold from a wide array of “Wellness” and alternative healing-type vendors.

For years, the Food and Drug Administration has been investigating homeopathic teething tablets and gels that the agency found contained inconsistent amounts of the toxic substance, belladonna aka deadly nightshade. In April, one of the manufacturers, Hyland’s, recalled its homeopathic teething products after hundreds of reports of sick babies,10 infant deaths, and strong-arming from the FDA.

Featured image via Ars Technica

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.