Anti Burn & Itch

Besieged by patients seeking remedies for common midsummer ills, U.S. doctors this year have more fancy preparations than ever to work with, but find themselves caught in a crossfire of controversy over safety and effectiveness.

Sunburn. Easily the most burning question concerns suntan pills derived from an ancient Egyptian herb remedy. A few years ago, U.S. researchers extracted the weed's potent chemical, 8-methoxy-psoralen, or 8-MOP for short, thought it might help thin-skinned sun seekers tan without burning (TIME, Oct. 17, 1955). Then the team split. One member, the University of Oregon's Dr. Thomas B. Fitzpatrick, concluded that 8-MOP actually makes burns more likely. A small drug firm, Paul B. Elder Co. of Bryan, Ohio, put up 8-MOP in capsules as Oxsor-alen, got it passed by the Food and Drug Administration for prescription use only. It attracted little attention until this summer, when Kalamazoo's giant Upjohn Co. bought rights from Elder, began marketing it as Meloxine.

Though Upjohn claimed to have made it safer, the firm warned that 8-MOP is dangerous unless taken in strict accordance with doctors' orders: only two tablets a day, at least two hours before exposure to the sun, then tan very gradually--otherwise, a worse burn than without the drug. And it is emphatically not for children. So far, Upjohn has had no reports of severe mishaps, but nearly all dermatologists are still set against use of 8-MOP as a tanning aid, warn that it can cause stomach upsets and even liver damage.

Plant Poisons. To ward off itching and blistering caused by poison ivy and poison oak, doctors wanted a preventive to be taken by mouth, because injected extracts sometimes caused worse irritation than they were supposed to prevent. New York University's Biochemist Margaret B. Strauss developed the tablets, Dr. Robert J. Langs tested them on Coast Guardsmen clearing brush along lower Mississippi waterways. Result: up to 95% effective for at least six months. Trade-named Aqua Ivy, the tablets are nonprescription. Still under investigation: use of Aqua Ivy injections for victims who already have severe ivy poisoning. Doctors report some dramatic improvements within hours.

Ear Wax. Impacted wax in the ears can cause pain, giddiness and impaired hearing, is especially common during summer swimming. Also nonprescription, Cerumenex can be squirted into the ears at home by syringe. It loosens and dissolves the wax so that it is easily and painlessly flushed out.

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