See the contemporary P&G
tampon Trust. See
the other tampons
Procter & Gamble sold around the time of
Rely.
Read also the important following
articles (issues
listed) in the Rochester
(New York)
Patriot newspaper, which
investigated Rely in 1975 and 1976, years
before the toxic shock crisis: 23 July-5 August
1975 (front cover)
- 6-26 August
1975 - 11 December
1975-13 January 1976 - 1-14 September
1976) - a letter
to a customer assuring her that Rely was
safe (April 1980) - and a letter from
Procter & Gamble (22 September 1980)
announcing that it was stopping distribution
of Rely because of health concerns
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Rely menstrual tampon: It Even Absorbed
the Worry!
The Rely tampon, apparently
promoting the illness toxic
shock in a few users, killed
and maimed scores of women in the
U.S.A. around 1980. Its maker, the
Procter & Gamble Company, then
took it off
the market. (Read
[fourth item
down under Letters to Your MUM]
what a test participant - she
thinks it was for Rely tampons -
says about the procedure she
underwent.)
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Listen
to
Procter & Gamble
tell radio listeners
to stop using Rely
because of the risk of
toxic shock syndrome
(TSS), probably in
1980 (and read the letter
P&G sent to
dealers).
And listen to three
radio ads
promoting Rely.
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It became the most famous tampon
in history, after Tampax (see a very early
Tampax.)
Many articles have been written
exploring the way Rely and other
tampons promoted the rapid growth
of the pathogen Staphylococcus
aureus, which caused
toxic shock in certain women when
in sufficient numbers. (See the
Canadian TV film Under
Wraps to see a woman maimed
by toxic shock, and to meet Dr.
Philip
Tierno, Jr., whose work
helped get Rely off the market; he
is a board member of MUM.)
Toxic shock from tampons today
is almost unheard of, but there
are sometimes problems
with contaminants; women are
advised to use unbleached
all-cotton tampons instead of
artificial fibers, or use tampons
bleached by a method not producing
dioxin. (Men can also get toxic
shock - not, of course, from
tampons.)
See the
valuable information about
toxic shock, dioxin, asbestos
and other concerns on the
pages of the Food and
Drug Administration, as well as
on this MUM
site,
with questions answered by Dr.
Tierno.
Rely's ironic motto, and its
very name, haunted Procter and
Gamble for years, and reminds us
that the buyer must beware!
P&G now owns Tampax.
See
the super Rely tampon,
two
sections of its instructions
, and an ad for
Rely from 1980.
See the contemporary P&G
tampon Trust.
Read a letter
from Procter & Gamble (22
September 1980) announcing that
it was stopping distribution of
Rely because of health concerns.
And see early
newspaper articles about the
danger of Rely - from cancer!
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NEXT:
the super Rely tampon,
two sections of
its instructions , and an ad for Rely from 1980.
Read a letter
from Procter & Gamble (22 September
1980) announcing that it was stopping
distribution
of Rely because of health concerns. See the
other tampons
Procter & Gamble sold around the time of
Rely.
And see early newspaper
articles about
the danger of Rely - from CANCER!
© 1999, 2007 Harry Finley. It is illegal
to reproduce
or distribute work on this Web site in any
manner or
medium without written permission of the
author.
Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org
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