SEXY EYELASHES can be a risky proposition

THE CASE

The purveyors of undeclared prescription items have been at it again. This time a product touted for making eyelashes sexier has been shown to contain some prostoglandins used for treating a serious eye condition.

"Jan Marini’s Australian distributors - Erase Products Management Pty Ltd - today announced that sales of their phenomenally successful product, Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner, have been suspended in Australia.

This is at the direction of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which has determined the product is therapeutic rather than cosmetic, and must be registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods and sold on prescription only."

The TGA medicine recall is a little more specific:

"This product contains a derivative of the prostaglandins fluprostenol and travoprost (which are prescription only ingredients) and as such the product can only be used under medical supervision."

The TGA considers this a Class I recall, the most serious category, used when:

"defects are potentially life-threatening or could cause a serious risk to health".

Travaprost is an analogue of protaglandin PGF2alpha, and is used in eye drops (Travatan and DuoTrav) to reduce the intra-ocular pressure in patients with open angle glaucoma. Listed side effects include: ocular hyperaemia; ocular discomfort; pruritus; pigment changes to the iris, around the orbit and eyelashes; dry eye, keratitis. The product information further indicates that approximately 50% of users will experience eyelash changes, such as thickening, increased profusion and darkening.


Fluprostenol is another analogue of protaglandin PGF2alpha, but it is not approved for use in Australia. Presumably it has similar effects and side-effects.

So Jan Marini Skin Research Inc have developed a product that exploits this side effect. Their advertising blurb says:

"A Stunning Technology Gives You the Lashes of Your Dreams! Your Lashes Will Appear Fuller, Thicker and More Lustrous!"

The small print also says:

"Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner is not intended to stop, prevent, cure, relieve, reverse or reduce eyelash loss or to promote the growth of eyelashes."

But what about all the other side effects such as numbness, low blood pressure, low heart rate, sore thoroat, runny nose, skin rash, and altered sense of taste? Is the risk of these really worth while to have darker eyelashes?

MY VERDICT

How do these people continue to get away with such behaviour? The sanction for risking public health should reflect the seriousness of the transgression.

This time the TGA was awake.

NOTES

Coincidentally, or perhaps not coincidentally, the boutique pharmaceutical company, Allergan, has filed a patent protection suit against Jan Marini Skin Research Inc in the US. This forced Jan Marini Skin Research Inc to withdraw Age Intervention Eyelash Conditioner from the US market.