Word: tss
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Dates: during 1980-1980
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Fallout from the TSS shock...
...drama began in June, when researchers at the U.S. Center for Disease Control in Atlanta determined that a disorder called toxic shock syndrome (TSS) was related to women's use of tampons. In September Procter & Gamble's popular Rely tampon was identified as the brand most closely associated with the illness, and within days the company withdrew it from sale. Then some tampon makers voluntarily began running newspaper ads describing the health hazards linked with the product...
Since 1975 there have been more than 400 reported cases of TSS, which is caused by the common Staphylococcus aureus bacterium and occurs primarily in menstruating women under 30. While fatalities have been few-only 40 have been recorded-the revelations about TSS disturbed tampon makers, who have built a market of 50 million regular users. First marketed in 1936 by Tampax, which had bought the patents for the product from the Colorado doctor who invented it, tampons are big business. All told, sanitary products account for roughly $800 million of the $10 billion spent each year on medical devices...
First identified in Colorado two years ago, TSS is caused by an agent of the common Staphylococcus aureus bacterium, often found in abscesses. Since January the U.S. Center for Disease Control in Atlanta has recorded 344 cases, including 28 deaths. All but 16 of the cases involved menstruating women, usually under 30 years old. Suspicions were directed toward Rely after a study of 42 TSS patients showed that the brand had been used by 71% of the women...
...from proved. Says a company medical consultant: "Can you imagine a Government agency passing up the opportunity to scare the hell out of millions of women?" Even so, the Cincinnati-based firm ordered the product off the market, offering refunds to customers. That may not be enough. One TSS victim, Linda Imboden of Redding, Calif., who lost her hair and suffered crippling in her hands and toes, has already filed a $5 million suit against Procter & Gamble, claiming that it knew all along that Rely was hazardous. The company denies the charge...