Dozens of pets up and down Britain have
been mysteriously dying. Watchdog of BBC TV revealed the probable cause -
Droplix Cat, an anti-flea treatment which contains the OP diazinon.
Droplix is an established product
prescribed by vets, placed on the back of a cat's neck to kill fleas. The
Watchdog programme heard from five owners whose pets have died suddenly after
administering the product. Bunny and Charlie Wheelwright from Solihull, West
Midlands, lost two of their champion pedigrees after administering Droplix. They
believe their cats were poisoned by the product. Charlie told Watchdog: "We
feel that somebody is responsible. We're definitely responsible as far as
putting it on. But it's not a cheap product, it's top-of-the range, and when
you buy the best you expect the best results. You don't expect to kill your
cat."
The makers of Droplix, Virbac Ltd, said
that batches of Droplix Cat were recalled because of evidence of degradation in
some pipettes. The company issued warnings through the trade press in November
1996, but did not warn the public until December when it put ads in some
national papers.
Dr Christian Karst, Director of Research
and Development at Virbac Ltd told Watchdog: "Suspicions were there since May
but 99.9% of the product did not create any problem." Virbac also stressed
that only some batches (Nos. 21-42) were affected.
An estimated 20,000 customers had bottles
of Droplix thought to be faulty, and although they have been removed from the
shelves of vet's dispensaries, it is not known how many are still in cat
owner's homes. A survey of 100 cat owners carried out by Watchdog revealed
that 97% were not aware of the warning.
After the programme, Liberal Democrat MP
Paul Tyler, Convenor of the informal All Party OP Group, asked Angela Browning,
the Agriculture Minister, for more details on the Droplix issue. She refused to
give further information and said that: "details of data submitted in support
of particular products are subject to the confidentiality requirements of
section 118 of the Medicines Act 1968." She also rejected the MP's request
for a suspension of Droplix's marketing licence. However on 21 February Virbac
temporarily suspended the sale of Droplix anyway "to avoid further confusion
and dispel and remaining fear among pet owners," the company said.
BBC News release, 23/1/97 and Paul Tyler
MP, press release 12/2/97.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 35,
March 1997, page 6]