Pharmacies across the US are removing ipecac from their shelves in the wake of revised guidelines. The American Academy of Pediatrics has reversed its recommendation from 1989 to keep ipecac in the home. The new policy statement urges families to consult a local poison control center as the first step and to dispose of any ipecac on hand. But these new guidelines are more stringent than what the American Association of Poison Control Centers currently recommends. Out-of-hospital guidelines are still being debated among poison centers. See www.aapcc.org. (

and Bond GR. Home syrup of ipecac use does not reduce emergency department use or improve outcome.

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New Year’s Eve came and went a while ago. Did you notice whether your bottle of champagne warned the opener to angle the cork away from their eyes? In Hungary, no such warning label appears on the bottles. A comparison of data from three national eye injury registries found that champagne bottle corks were responsible for 71% of eye injuries caused by bottles containing pressurized drinks in Hungary. In …