VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — At first glance, there appeared to be just a black dot on the outside of Harmony Grant’s just opened tampon.
Then, the 22-year-old found something else.
“I couldn’t even tell what it was until I picked at it, and opened up a hook,” said Grant.
The product was a Playtex Simple Gentle Glide tampon. Inside of it, Grant found what appeared to be sharp metal coiled in plastic.
“I was utterly shocked that there was a hook sticking out of a tampon,” said Grant.
Now, Grant wants other women to be warned about the dangers of these products. She posted about her dangerous discovery on social media, and the post is making its rounds.
Since then, Grant has also reached out to the company that makes Playtex products, Edgewell Personal Care.
They responded to her in an email, where they apologized about her ‘recent experience.’ The company then asked her to ship back the box of tampons and offered to reimburse her it, which would be a total of $7.
Grant said she’s disappointed with the response, and she doesn’t feel it’s appropriate.
“It was like, completely unacceptable,” said Grant. “I kind of felt like they brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal. I could have seriously been injured.”
13News Now reached out to Edgewell Personal Care on the matter, a spokesperson for the company responded, stating:
“Once we receive the necessary information we will be able to fully evaluate all details of this report. In the meantime, this one isolated case does not affect other Playtex tampon products, which remain safe to use. The health and safety of the women who use our products is a top priority for Edgewell Personal Care.”
Grant said she nearly used an entire box before she discovered the defective product. Now, she said she refuses to use any tampons, no matter the brand.
“Honestly, I’m just traumatized about the whole situation. That could've been potentially very harmful to me, and I just want other women to know things like this are happening.”