Opinion & Comment
Medicines Without Hechsher

To the Editor:

I would like to apprise our readers of a common phenomenon: the lack of attention to the problem of hechsherim on over-the-counter medicine.

Many of these medicines are in the form of flavored pills to be sucked. Many halachic authorities are of the opinion that medicines of this type require a hechsher. I encountered this phenomenon personally while looking for a heartburn remedy. The pharmacist claimed that, "all of them are kosher; everyone buys them." But I was persistent. Among the various remedies which he suggested I discovered one which also has a hechsher: Tums.

A pharmacist is not a posek, and we who are so careful about all that enters our mouths should be cautious in this area, too. One "cautions only the alert."

S. Cohen,

Elad

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