TGA pulls teething gels from supermarkets amid toxicity concerns

The TGA has pulled teething and mouth ulcer products containing choline salicylate from supermarket shelves in response to concerns around the risk of toxicity from their use.
It means from 1 October, the products will only be available as Schedule 2 medicines from pharmacies.
Current therapeutic guidelines in Australia do not currently recommend teething gels — irrespective of choline salicylate content — due to the lack of evidence of efficacy and potential for harm.
The original re-scheduling application made to the TGA proposed changing the products to Schedule 3, pharmacist-only, citing concerns over toxicity in gels available for purchase without restriction in concentrations of up to 40%.