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Aromatherapy Room Spray Recall
On November 2, 2021, Walmart recalled 3,900 bottles of Better Homes and Gardens Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones, which comes in six different scents. The bottles may contain a rare and dangerous bacteria that is capable of causing melioidosis, also known as Whitmore’s disease, which is an infectious disease that can cause serious injury and death.
Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tested the blood of four patients with melioidosis and tested the spray, and confirmed that the bacteria in the bottle matched what was found in the patients. The patients are from Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota and Texas. Two of these patients died.
The CDC issued a health alert for doctors and other health care providers to look for patients with signs and symptoms of melioidosis, and to ask patients with such symptoms if they have used certain aromatherapy sprays.
Melioidosis can lead to a wide range of signs and symptoms from chest pain and coughing to brain infection and seizures.
Signs and Symptoms include:
- Localized infection: Localized pain or swelling; fever; ulceration; abscess
- Pulmonary infection: Cough; chest pain; high fever; headache; anorexia
- Bloodstream infection: Fever; headache; respiratory distress; abdominal discomfort; joint pain; disorientation
- Disseminated infection: Fever; weight loss; stomach or chest pain; muscle or joint pain; headache; central nervous system/brain infection; seizures
The CDC recommends that consumers:
- Stop using this product immediately. Do not open the bottle. Do not throw away or dispose of the bottle in the regular trash.
- Double bag the bottle in clean, clear zip-top bags and place in a small cardboard box. Return the bagged and boxed product to a Walmart store.
- Wash sheets or linens that the product may have been sprayed on using normal laundry detergent and dry completely in a hot dryer; bleach can be used if desired.
- Wipe down counters and surfaces that might have the spray on them with undiluted Pine-Sol or similar disinfectant.
- Limit how much you handle the spray bottle and wash hands thoroughly after touching the bottle or linens. If you used gloves while handling the bottle or cleaning, wash hands afterward.
- If you have used the product within the past 21 days and have fever or the other melioidosis symptoms listed above, seek medical care and tell your doctor you were exposed to the spray. If you do not have symptoms but were exposed to the product in the last 7 days, your doctor may recommend that you get antibiotics to prevent infection.
Our Lawyers Can Help
If you or a loved one has been exposed to the Better Homes & Gardens Essential Oil spray and suffered any of the symptoms listed above, call Ben Martin Law Group at (214) 761-6614, or contact us for a free, no obligation initial consultation. We take on global multinational corporations everyday and hold them accountable for their actions. Call today.