On October 31, 2023, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. urging him to take “appropriate actions to investigate and recall products with unacceptable levels of benzene.”
Blumenthal wrote an “independent quality assurance company,” a fancy phrase for a lab, found “unacceptable” high levels of benzene in popular over-the-counter acne treatment products in a study in March 2023. Benzene, Blumenthal pointed out, is a “known hormone disruptor and carcinogen.”
Blumenthal left out three key facts. The FDA itself found “methodological deficiencies” in at least four areas of Valisure’s laboratory work. Second, in litigation, a federal judge chastised Valisure for subjecting the heartburn drug Zantac to unrealistic temperatures to prove the product…
