It's happening again--another diethylene glycol mass poisoning.
What lessons have we learned? Certainly, the similarities among these DEG poisoning tragedies are striking. Their raison d'êrre, especially in the last few poisoning epidemics, appears to be financially driven. DEG, an inexpensive solvent, is more profitable to use than the more expensive propylene glycol or glycerin. Despite the world wide proliferation of chemicals, pharmaceutical regulation is carried out at a national level. Certainly this sort of poisoning is bound to occur again unless much stricter pharmaceutical manufacturing oversight is employed and enforced throughout the world. Developing countries with fewer resources to implement such quality control monitoring will continue to be at higher risk for such poisoning epidemics. For now, we need to remain vigilant or such history will continue to repeat itself.
Wax
P M
PM
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York 14642, USA.
D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D005026:Ethylene Glycols / Q000266:history* / Q000506:poisoning; D006205:Haiti / Q000453:epidemiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D005026:Ethylene Glycols; C013484:diethylene glycol