Healthbeat by Deirdre Cox BakerWatch out for eyelash drug
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 8:07 amConsumer Reports says today that a new drug to grow eyelashes may have some serious side effects, notwithstanding the star power of beautiful Brooke Shields who is featured in the product advertisement.
In detail, the Ad Watch division cautions that Latisse costs about $100 a month, can make hair grow in places that you don’t want it, may turn blue eyes brown ( how is that possible?), or cause the darkening of lower lashes to mimic the look of a raccoon.
Also, Latisse can lead to itchy red eyes. And — like products designed to grow men’s hair — you have to keep using it or your eyelashes will eventually return to the way they looked in the first place.
So what happened to false eyelashes, used for special occasions?
The Food and Drug Administration is now looking into Latisse and in September warned Allergan, its maker, that promotional materials on the drug’s Web site omitted or minimized some of the risks.
The Latisse commercial, Consumer Reports said on its blog, embodies pretty much everything that’s wrong with direct-to-consumer advertising.