Many people consider complementary and alternative medicine to be safe and to have no side effects. A recent visit to a pharmacy in Hong Kong revealed the sale of such a preparation—Kam’s Antirheumatic, a combination of three essential vitamins (B1, B6, and B12) (Figure [9]). The ingredients of each capsule include phenazone (150 mg), along with vitamins B1 (10 mg), B6 (2.5 mg), and B12 (25 mcg). Phenazone has the known side effect of agranulocytosis and hepato-toxicity. Due care should be taken when purchasing and taking vitamins, especially preparations from overseas.
—H.C. George Wong, MD
Vancouver
Links
[1] https://bcmj.org/cover/march-2014
[2] https://bcmj.org/author/hc-george-wong-md-frcpc
[3] https://bcmj.org/node/5254
[4] https://bcmj.org/print/letters/not-all-vitamins-are-safe
[5] https://bcmj.org/printmail/letters/not-all-vitamins-are-safe
[6] http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://bcmj.org/print/letters/not-all-vitamins-are-safe
[7] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Not all vitamins are safe&url=https://bcmj.org/print/letters/not-all-vitamins-are-safe&via=BCMedicalJrnl&tw_p=tweetbutton
[8] https://bcmj.org/javascript%3A%3B
[9] https://bcmj.org/sites/default/files/public/BCMJ_56_Vol2_pv_wong_figure.GIF
[10] https://bcmj.org/modal_forms/nojs/webform/176
[11] https://bcmj.org/%3Finline%3Dtrue%23citationpop