Firefighters receive a glutathione warning; surgeons want crash alerts freed from subscriptions
A firefighters' union said glutathione treatments promoted for smoke exposure were unapproved. Trauma surgeons called for automatic crash alerts to become free standard equipment in new vehicles.
Science··Evening
The union says glutathione is not approved for smoke-related illness
The International Association of Fire Fighters, representing about 360,000 first responders, told members that glutathione delivered intravenously or by inhalation was not approved to prevent or treat smoke-related illness. The advisory followed promotion of the product during this month's wildfires in Spokane, Washington, by a non-profit run by naturopathic doctors. The union said no clinical trial supported its use for smoke exposure and that glutathione lacked drug approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, urging members to treat claims about its safety and effect on illness with caution.[1]
Contaminated injections carry a risk of severe reactions
According to the union's advisory, risks from contaminated injections include fever, low blood pressure, inflammatory reactions, anaphylactic shock and death. Inhaled glutathione may narrow the airways of people with asthma or chronic lung disease. Some firefighters were reported to have become ill after treatment. Products prepared by at least two pharmacies were recalled this month after bacterial contamination was found. The warning stressed that glutathione's natural presence in the body as an antioxidant does not establish the safety or effectiveness of products delivered intravenously or by inhalation.[1]
Trauma surgeons call for automatic crash alerts at no charge
The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma argued that automatic and advanced crash-notification systems should be free standard equipment in every new vehicle. The systems call for help after a collision; the advanced version sends crash-severity data to dispatchers, helping them decide where a patient should be taken. Today these features are often tied to paid subscription packages and stop working when the subscription expires. The committee said that gap mattered most in rural areas, where response delays are longest. The European Union has required the subscription-free eCall system in new vehicles since March 2018.[2]
