FDA Rejects Lindane Petition

FDA has denied a petition to immediately ban lindane, the active ingredient in some shampoos and lotions used to treat head lice and scabies. The petition, filed in 2010 by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups, argues that lindane has been associated with numerous adverse health effects and is no longer effective because pests have developed resistance to it. EPA banned the use of lindane, an organochlorine pesticide, in agriculture in 2006 because of toxicity concerns. FDA rejected NRDC’s petition, saying, “If lindane were to be removed from the market, patients would have very limited options for treatment of scabies, especially given the failure rate of the other FDA-approved therapies.”