I mean "Ben Gay" ...





Poisoned teen didn't overuse creams, sez ma
BY RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, June 10th 2007, 4:00 AM

The grieving mother of the popular Staten Island high school student poisoned to death by muscle cream denied yesterday that her track star daughter used too much of the product.

"She didn't even use it a lot," Arielle Newman's mother, Alice-Lynn Newman, told the Daily News. "Her coach said some of the girls would really slather it on them before meets. She wasn't one of them."

The city medical examiner has ruled that 17-year-old Arielle died April 3 as a result of overuse of Ben-Gay-like muscle soreness relievers.

It was the first time the city medical examiner had determined a death was due to the victim's use of sports creams.

The toxicology report on the Notre Dame Academy senior found that Arielle's body contained lethal levels of methyl salicylate, a wintergreen-scented ingredient common in topical muscle ointments.

Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said that Arielle used muscle creams between track meets, wore adhesive pads that release the anti-inflammatory and used a third unidentified product containing the chemical as well.

"There were multiple products, used to great excess, and that's how she ended up with high levels," Borakove said, noting that the concentration of the chemical was not from a single instance of overuse.

But Arielle's mother said her daughter used the creams, which she borrowed from her teammates, only on race days.

She also rejected the notion that her daughter overused Ben-Gay and other products, arguing that the medical examiner was speculating.

"Maybe her body wasn't getting rid of it or eliminating it like everybody else," Newman said.

Arielle, a dark-haired cross-country standout, never woke up after going to sleep on the night of April 2, two days after her last race, her mother said.

In the weeks before her death, Arielle and her mother shopped together for hours searching for the perfect prom dress.

"I was zipping her up, tucking her in, and I never noticed a smell," Newman said. "I would like to know what happened. She was using it in moderation like millions of athletes who use it."

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