Lice: The Unwelcome But Common Addition to Every Back-to-School Checklist

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mission Pharmacal today announced its plans to aggressively market its LYCELLE® kit, a safe and highly effective treatment for head lice, just in time for the back-to-school rush.  For anxious parents nationwide, the timing couldn't be better since it's the time of year that lice infestations are most rampant.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the LYCELLE Head Lice Removal kit for sale as a medical device under a 510K filing.

Considering that the LYCELLE kits remove all lice and eggs with just one 10-minute application, it should reassure health professionals and parents alike that all LYCELLE kit ingredients are considered G.R.A.S. − the FDA's classification of Generally Recognized as Safe.

Potentially harmful ingredients in some lice treatment products were addressed in a report last year published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (Clinical Report − Head Lice, Pediatrics, July, 2010)[1].  In this report, the authors caution that "…improper use of pediculicides raise concerns about unsafe use of these products, specifically when no lice are present or when products are used excessively…  Because lice infestation is so benign, treatments must prove safe to ensure that the adverse effects of therapy are not worse than the infestation."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to recommend using lice kits to treat − and then retreat − lice infestations, noting that the timing between treatments can vary widely.[2]  Since some school districts have strict "no nits" policies, children could miss up to a week or more of school if they are found to have lice.  Because of LYCELLE's one easy application formulation, children can return to school the next day and parents do not have to take time off from work and find childcare alternatives waiting to apply additional lice treatments.

Clint Corwin, senior director, Pediatric Rx Products at Mission Pharmacal, recommends that parents be proactive when it comes to their children's risk of being exposed to lice.  "We think it's a good idea to fill a prescription for a LYCELLE kit before a lice outbreak.  If my child came home scratching his head, I wouldn't want to lose time waiting for calls between the pediatrician and the pharmacy.  Instead, I could grab the LYCELLE kit from the medicine cabinet and use it immediately," Corwin says.  The LYCELLE kit has a three-year shelf life.

About Mission Pharmacal
Mission Pharmacal is a privately held pharmaceutical company based in San Antonio, Texas.  For more than 65 years, the company has been committed to meeting the unique healthcare needs of women throughout all stages of life, pediatric patients, and those persons dealing with urologic and dermatologic conditions.  The company has a proven track record of identifying unmet healthcare needs and developing both innovative prescription and over-the-counter products to meet these needs.  Using only the purest ingredients, Mission Pharmacal provides physicians and consumers with the highest quality pharmaceutical and dietary supplement products on the market today.  Mission Pharmacal is a proud national supporter of the March of Dimes Foundation, whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.  For more information about the company, visit www.missionpharmacal.com.

[1] http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2010/07/26/peds.2010-1308.full.pdf+html

[2] http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/treatment.html

SOURCE Mission Pharmacal