The Obligate Scientist: Looks like Boyd Haley is pulling OSR#1 following FDA warnings

You may recall a post or two about on this blog about an industrial chelator turned dietary supplement called OSR#1. It has been used by some to treat autism in children, despite a lack of evidence that it would be safe or effective to do so. Well after the FDA stepped in recently, CTI Science Inc. appears to be pulling the product until further notice.

Here's an update from Orac at Respectful Insolence which includes part of what appears to be an email from CTI Science president Boyd Haley. According to that email:

...CTI Science has voluntarily agreed to remove OSR#1® from the market effective Thursday, 29 July 2010.

If you were wondering why they're going to wait until July 29, Orac offers up an answer:

My question is this: Why don't Haley and CTI Science simply shut down production and sales now? Why sell OSR#1 for another week? My guess is that the answer is that Haley wants to milk his cash cow for one more week. All the quacks who "prescribe" or recommend OSR#1 to their clients will rush out to buy a boatload of the stuff before Haley cuts off the supply. It's pure profit, because the stuff costs only $0.25 per gram to synthesize. I don't know what Haley sells OSR#1 for wholesale, but Kathleen Seidel points out that certain retailers sell it for $60 to $105 for 30-100 mg capsules of OSR#1. That's right: $20 to $35 a gram--seriously righteous bucks, a markup of up to 14,000%. Given that the Univesity of Kentucky bore the costs of development, and the packaging and filler can't cost all that much...