By now our readers must be aware of the dramatic withdrawal of the popular injectible iron preparation, iron-dextran complex Imferon, from the market. The story is worth pondering for several reasons, not the least of which is the need for a critical look at certain aspects of current pediatric practice.
Imferon complex, developed originally after careful testing by a reputable British firm and introduced in this country by an equally serious American pharmaceutical company, has been the subject of intensive clinical investigations, some of which were reported in this journal. In the few years since it came on the market, the preparation has had a spectacular career. We venture to say that its success, in the field of pediatrics at least, was due not so much to the development of well-reasoned indications as to the convenience it afforded the physician. One may be excused for suspecting that those factors (better