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FRIDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) -- The bizarre death of a New York City high school track star from a muscle pain cream overdose is raising a red flag once again on the hazards of overusing common over-the-counter medications, experts say.
The New York City medical examiner's office ruled last week that 17-year-old cross-country runner Arielle Newman died from an accidental overdose of methyl salicylate, the wintergreen-scented ingredient found in popular sports balms.
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To help ease exercise-related discomfort, the Staten Island teenager reportedly had been putting Bengay on her legs between running meets, while also using adhesive pads with methyl salicylate, an aspirin-like anti-inflammatory, and a third product, according to the Associated Press.
"There were multiple products, used to great excess," Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the NYC medical examiner's office, told the AP. All of the products can be found as nonprescription items on drug store shelves.
But over-the-counter almost never means "harmless," experts warned.
Methyl salicylate, or salicylic acid, is the active ingredient in creams such as Bengay, Icy Hot and Tiger Balm, as well as aspirin, and "is potentially harmful if it is overused," said Dr. Gerard Varlotta, the director of sport rehabilitation at Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City.
An anti-clotting agent, salicyclic acid at very high doses "can cause internal bleeding, it can cause arrhythmias of the heart, it can cause problems in the liver -- there are any number of ways it can get to you," Varlotta added.
However, long-familiar brands like Bengay (which first debuted in U.S. drug stores more than 100 years ago) don't set off alarm bells in most Americans' minds, so the temptation to overuse them is there, Varlotta said.
And while most people would definitely think twice about swallowing a fistful of aspirin or other OTC pills, people forget that creams carry dangers, too.
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