I Had a Brain Freeze, but Brain Thaw Arrived in the Nick of Time

So we spent Memorial Day week-end at the shore. My son is taking Zyrtec daily for seasonal allergies. We ran out of his Zyrtec syrup during the week-end. No problem. We stopped at the closest CVS and picked up more. My brain freeze resulted in my thinking that we should get the children's chewable tablets instead of syrup. As I opened the package, my brain thaw occurred and I read over the inactive ingredients. Duh! I wrote a while back about Zyrtec tablets containing lactose monohydrate. I even sent a letter to them. It went unanswered.

Today I called Zyrtec and chatted with Malika, Zyrtec Customer Service Representative. She confirmed that lactose monohydrate contains bovine milk. She went on to say that the manufacturer of the lactose monohydrate had issued a "Certificate of Suitability." When I asked what that meant, I was put on hold- for 8 minutes. Finally Malika came back and apologized for the long wait. She said, "It contains milk, so those allergic to milk should avoid the product." Okay, I still don't know what a "Certificate of Suitability" is , but I guess it doesn't really matter.

I told her that I wanted to register a complaint that the label doesn't clearly state "Contains Milk" in big bold letters- make that super size letters so even those of us in a brain freeze can't miss it. She apologized and said she would forward my complaint to the appropriate department. Uh, huh- I'm watching...

If you want to register your concern to Zyrtec, call 1-800-343-7805.

Why don't medication manufacturers have to follow the same labeling rules that food manufacturers must follow?

Posted in: dangerous allergy medications,milk allergy