Re: Letter sent to the New York Times

[Guest guest]

Thank you, but that was not our piece in the NY Times, you may want to talk to the NY Times reporter who wrote that story. To: miralax Sent: Wed, June 13, 2012 1:52:32 PMSubject: Letter sent to the New York

Times

I recently read your article in the New York Times about the use of Miralax in pediatrics. I appreciated that the article was well written and presented unbiased information about the use of Miralax in children. However, the Yahoo group that was referenced in the article may have created more harm than benefit for parents concerned for their children's chronic constipation.

Due to the fact that this article produced much controversy on this topic, I chose to research the subject further. My goal was to examine the current research available on the safety of this product, while also bringing to light the dangers of using an online chat group as a reference for unsound medical advice. When parents see an online group referenced in a stately journal like the New York Times, they assume that the information found is credible. However, this group has provided unregulated information to parents in order to help them make uneducated medical decisions.

In order to gain access to this Yahoo group I signed up under the alias, "concernedparent1978." After acceptance by the webmaster, I spent two weeks reviewing posts and various files that had been saved for parents to reference. The information I found was very disturbing. Parents provided personal testimonies while contributing unsubstantiated symptoms to their children's use of Miralax. Claims ranged from newly discovered OCD problems such as "pulling out every fiber of carpet in a one diameter circle" to "eating peeling skin" to one child wanting to harm their sibling.

It was clear from reading the various posts from members of this group that most of the subscribers grossly misunderstand how to evaluate scientific evidence. Several posts tried to extrapolate information from chemically unrelated compounds regarding the safety for the use of polyethylene glycol in humans.

Given that the majority of the symptoms attributed to the use of Miralax were unsubstantiated, I referenced several reputable sources in order to better understand the known side effects of this medication. I found two studies examining the long term effects of using Miralax for chronic constipation in children. One study followed 49 children for 12 months, and another examined the efficacy and safety in 83 children after 8 ½ months. The information discovered was conducted in a scientific manner and findings were interpreted by medical professionals. I feel that It is information like the two aforementioned studies that should be recognized and referenced for parents, not chat groups that provide contraindicated medical advice.

In conclusion, I wanted to express my concern about the dangers of allowing chat room activity to be published. I appreciate your willingness to publish information that gives people hope, especially when there are seemingly no options remaining. However, acknowledging the potential danger of using unregulated information to make medical decisions is important.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to voice my concern. I have included my references for your review.

- From 2 concerned Pharmacy students

References

Bell EA, Wall GC. Pediatric Constipation Therapy Using Guidelines and Polyethylene Glycol 3350. The ls of Pharmacotherapy. 2004. 686-693

Shah S, Prematta T, Adkinson FN, Ishmael FT. Hypersensitivity to Polyethylene Glycols. J Clin Pharmacol. 8 May 2012.

Loeing-Baucke V. Polyethylene Glycol Without Electrolytes for Children with Constipation and Encopresis. J Pediatr Gastr Nutr. April 2002. 34:372-377

Pashankar DS, Loening-Baucke V, Bishop WP. Safety of Polyethylene Glycol 3350 for the Treatment of Chronic Constipation in Children. Arch Pediat Adol Med. July 2003. 661-664

Saint Louis, C. (2012, May 25). Miralax, drug for adults, is popular as children's remedy. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://topics.nytimes.com.