ebamma: The people who bought and consumed the drugs should also be jailed for their stupidity, u see drug were the name be my pikin u still get mind buy am go take

So you mean that's how upside down your own judgement is. So you're saying innocent consumers should be jailed for what they know nothing about. Tell me what stupidity you have found in them. Kindly modify your comment, it's not good enough.

real justice would be chinese-style justice. Directors of 2 milk powder factories which were adding Melamine to milk to falsify protein levels were sentenced to death, and recently executed. Melamine causes, in higher doses, death, just like this medicine. What is there to talk about if someone poisons kids? Bullet in the back of the head and that is it. End of any story.

...

Shortly after allocutus by defence counsel, the first accused Adeyemo Abiodun, suddenly started shaking and gradually began to collapse.

I thought the owner of the company died sometime ago

The producer of ‘My Pikin’ teething mixture, Kola Gbadegbesin Okunlola, is dead.

The late Kola Gbadegbesin Okunlola.

He had been standing trial alongside his company, Barewa Pharmaceutical Limited, and two staff of the company, Adeyemo Abiodun and Egbele Austin Eromosele.

Okunlola died on 27 October, 2012, aged 58 years.

Sources said Okunlola died at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, where he was admitted when he suffered haemorrhage stroke.

A native of Ikimu, Osun State, Southwest Nigeria, the late pharmacist attended Akinorun Grammar School, Ikirun, University of Bradford in the U.K. He qualified as a pharmacist 39 years ago.

On 8 March, 2009, he was arraigned alongside his company with two other staff on a six-count charge of manufacturing and distributing adulterated drugs.

In the criminal charge filed by senior state counsel from the office of Attorney-General of the Federation, A.K. Aliu, it was alleged that Okunlola, Abiodun, Eromosele and Barewa Pharmaceutical Company of 1-5 Olugbo Close, Shasha, Akowonjo, Lagos, on or about 2008, conspired together to manufacture and distribute adulterated drug ‘My Pikin’ baby teething mixture with the intention to cause death or grievous bodily harm to members of the public.

They were therefore accused of committing an offence contrary to Section 1(A) of the Counterfeit and Fake Drug and Unwholesome Processed Foods Act 25 of 1999 which is punishable under Section 3 of the same Act.

They all pleaded not guilty and their counsel, Mr. Osaro Eghobamien, SAN, applied that they be admitted to bail.

But the prosecutor, A.K. Aliu, opposed the bail application on the grounds that the drugs allegedly produced by the accused persons had caused the death of so many children.

In his reaction, Eghobamien told the court that the claim by NAFDAC that ‘My Pikin’ has caused the death of many children was nothing but a ruse as the accused persons were not charged with murder, no death certificate was filed before the court and investigations conducted revealed that the children who died were above the age of children that can use baby teething mixture.

He said, invariably, the death of the children whose identities were not disclosed to the court might be as a result of other causes.

After listening to the submission of the counsel to both parties, the presiding judge, Justice Okechukwu Okeke said there is no death certificate filed before the court to prove that deaths occurred by the use of the drug.

He, therefore, admitted the accused persons to bail on stringent conditions. They were able to meet the bail conditions in about three months.

Justice Okeke also warned that if the bail was used as a ploy to delay the trial, it will be revoked.

Okunlola was equally arraigned before a Kaduna High Court charged with murder. But the case was later struck out for lack of diligent prosecution.

The trial in Lagos dragged on for about three years. The prosecutor managed to call two of his witnesses before Okunlola died.

When P.M.NEWS called his counsel, Mr. Eghobamien, he said it was unfortunate that the man died before the conclusion of his trial, as he could not prove his innocence before his death.

Some of his neighbours at 16, Ilawe Street, Gbagada, Lagos, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man was a good and amiable person.

They opined that his problem started when NAFDAC in frenzy of media trial claimed that the man had been producing baby mixture that had killed many children.

They added that his factory was closed down and even another factory that was not part of Barewa Pharmaceutical Company was also closed down. All efforts made by the late pharmacist to ensure the other factory was reopened was abortive.

One of the children of the deceased, Mr. Femi Okunlola, 33, a manager with an oil and gas company, who spoke with P.M.NEWS on behalf of his family, said his father lived in Lagos with his wife while his other four children were based abroad. According to the burial programme released by his family, there will be a wake on 14 November, 2012. He will be buried 16 November, 2012 at Ikoyi Cemetery, Lagos.

Okunlola had worked briefly with Boots Pharmaceutical Company, London and when he returned to Nigeria, joined Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company before he established Barewa Pharmaceutical Company.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2012/11/05/my-pikin-syrup-maker-dies-of-stroke/

He didn't wait till sentencing
This case must have contributed to his stroke
It doesn't look like he set out to kill Children,must have been an error of compounding

Okay oh

ocman: Being in Nigeria alone is enough feeling of being in a jail and yet you still go to do things that will put you inside A JAIL IN A JAIL....chai!!! i pity them O! Anythin that will make be go jail for naija, Holy Ghost fire!!!

See this funny poster,naija wey be paradise unlike shitty texas

babyosisi:


He didn't wait till sentencing
This case must have contributed to his stroke
It doesn't look like he set out to kill Children,must have been an error of compounding

. I totally agree wt u. How will someone set up a company and do something that will make it get closed down. I hope it was not somebody's negligence.

Find Out!:
It so happens that the owner of the company is already dead and cannot explain himself any further & possibly answer for his crimes. That said, why are "teething mixtures" even sold to the public? & why the heck are/were mothers buying teething mixtures for their babies? Does a baby need 'mixtures' before teeth can develop? I hope present mothers will learn that its not just anything you see on a chemist's shelf that you buy for your infant simply because you 'think' or 'feel' it will be useful to that child. Drug abuse in general should be avoided by all, but especially so where children are concerned. If you feel anything isn't right with your child, hospital straight! It's better to pay consultation fees just for the doctor to say "there's nothing wrong with him/her" than to spend that same money buying a potential poison for your child.

for your information, mothers don't give their babies teething mixture to help the teeth come out, they give it to combat the feverish conditions associated with teething. If you had a child, or actively took care of one, u wld know that teething is a very stressful period for both parents and child and drugs are usually given to relive the pains.
Calling the mixture 'my pikin' ws just a marketing ploy, there are similarly named syrup out there like, 'babyrex', 'bonababe', and even 'babymycin'. Are parents meant to judge the efficacy of a drug based on the name? When my child is burning with a fever in the middle of the night, I don't care if the drug is called pakuromo, as long as it can combat the symptoms.
But as a last word on this matter, parents shld note that a good baby brand of PARACETAMOL is recommended for feverish conditions, even those associated with teething. If the symptoms last more than three days or worsen, please consult your doctor!

We need to be careful about our judgements. Let us also pray that we never fall into the hands of people who are desperate for public attention and popularity. Barewa was Dora Akiyuli's scapegoat. Three courts threw out the case for no evidence, no single death certificate, no single parent as witness, Pfizer is only being hounded for compensation of victims nobody has been jailed even where the case proved that pfizer was guilty of harming children. We usually jugde what we don't know anything about.

This is rubbish sentencing. The real culprits were not charged and are still free to continue their criminal acts.

Producers of paracetamol in Nigeria run one risk all the time. They can be tricked into buying ethylene glycol in place of propylene glycol. Ethylene glycol used as car radiator coolant is very cheap compared to the expensive propylene glycol required in making paracetamol.

Criminals sell ethylene glycol as propylene glycol and each time they succeed children normally die from the consumption of the paracetamol produced from the ethylene glycol since the end product of ethylene glycol metabolism in the body is poisonous oxalic acid.

What the court has done is to punish the victims of the fraudsters who were tricked into buying cheap ethylene glycol as expensive propylene glycol.

mamaaustin:

for your information, mothers don't give their babies teething mixture to help the teeth come out, they give it to combat the feverish conditions associated with teething. If you had a child, or actively took care of one, u wld know that teething is a very stressful period for both parents and child and drugs are usually given to relive the pains.
Calling the mixture 'my pikin' ws just a marketing ploy, there are similarly named syrup out there like, 'babyrex', 'bonababe', and even 'babymycin'. Are parents meant to judge the efficacy of a drug based on the name? When my child is burning with a fever in the middle of the night, I don't care if the drug is called pakuromo, as long as it can combat the symptoms.
But as a last word on this matter, parents shld note that a good baby brand of PARACETAMOL is recommended for feverish conditions, even those associated with teething. If the symptoms last more than three days or worsen, please consult your doctor!

Thanks for the clarification, though I was under the impression that the teething mixtures are supposed to in some way influence the baby's teething. And yes, i havnt raised a child before, but i've been privileged to work at a place where I saw first hand a great deal of harm parents unknowingly cause their babies.

I actually do not have any issues with the drug name per se. What i have issues with is what you repeated in your last paragraph. I dont want to turn this into a debate, but i do not think it is advisable that parents use drugs for their BABIES without seeing a doctor first, except where it is impossible to do so at that moment. Whatever drug a baby takes either for fever or anything should be prescribed by a doctor.

Which new company my pikin no die. Infact govt should forbid them from operating any thing swallow[b][/b][color=#990000][/color]

Which new company my pikin no die. Infact govt should forbid them from operating any thing swallow

Since how many years? There's something wrong with our judicial process.

Find Out!:
It so happens that the owner of the company is already dead and cannot explain himself any further & possibly answer for his crimes. That said, why are "teething mixtures" even sold to the public? & why the heck are/were mothers buying teething mixtures for their babies? Does a baby need 'mixtures' before teeth can develop? I hope present mothers will learn that its not just anything you see on a chemist's shelf that you buy for your infant simply because you 'think' or 'feel' it will be useful to that child. Drug abuse in general should be avoided by all, but especially so where children are concerned. If you feel anything isn't right with your child, hospital straight! It's better to pay consultation fees just for the doctor to say "there's nothing wrong with him/her" than to spend that same money buying a potential poison for your child.

Bro, live by the principles of your username.

It is not that I am in support of the indicted company and their employees. Those group of drugs are meant to relieve the pain experienced by the babies during their teething period. Not to help them develop teeth.

@ Topic, were those drugs NAFDAC approved? If yes, then I believe they should have been joined as defendants in the case. For failing to discover that consumption of the mixture was lethal.

If the drugs were not approved, NAFDAC is still culpable. For failing in their duties of 'Safeguarding the Health of the Nation'. That mixture was publicly sold over the counter and could have even been bought by a little girl sent by her mum on the errand.

So wherein does the safety enforcement and protection from NAFDAC lie?

SON conducts mandatory inspection of manufacturing plants and industries on occasions. How does NAFDAC being a public health regulator ensure that the drugs obtained by the public (in pharmacies, chemists and dispensary) are safe for use?

Do they simply wait for the manufacturer, importer or distributor agent to come and register the drug with them first (to operate on the side of the law)? I just hope that is not the case. And that this 'My Pikin' incident was an isolated case of a drug that escaped their supervision.

I still think the Office of the Public defender should have joined NAFDAC as defendants in the suit.

A govt agency can be sued in a case of criminal negligence. Can't it?

Well its so sad.It wasn't actually intentional .a supplier supplied Ethylene glycol(poison) instead of propylene glycol,used in making most children syrups.the 2 molecules hav.the same physical and almost the same chemical proptis.negligencece on the side of the quality assurance manager,he trusted this long time supplier.Pharmacy is such a tough profession whr such negligence is nt allowed..such a pity

Tinyemeka:

Bro, live by the principles of your username.

It is not that I am in support of the indicted company and their employees. Those group of drugs are meant to relieve the pain experienced by the babies during their teething period. Not to help them develop teeth.

@ Topic, were those drugs NAFDAC approved? If yes, then I believe they should have been joined as defendants in the case. For failing to discover that consumption of the mixture was lethal.

If the drugs were not approved, NAFDAC is still culpable. For failing in their duties of 'Safeguarding the Health of the Nation'. That mixture was publicly sold over the counter and could have even been bought by a little girl sent by her mum on the errand.

So wherein does the safety enforcement and protection from NAFDAC lie?

SON conducts mandatory inspection of manufacturing plants and industries on occasions. How does NAFDAC being a public health regulator ensure that the drugs obtained by the public (in pharmacies, chemists and dispensary) are safe for use?

Do they simply wait for the manufacturer, importer or distributor agent to come and register the drug with them first (to operate on the side of the law)? I just hope that is not the case. And that this 'My Pikin' incident was an isolated case of a drug that escaped their supervision.

I still think the Office of the Public defender should have joined NAFDAC as defendants in the suit.

A govt agency can be sued in a case of criminal negligence. Can't it?

Well said mate. Just when i thought i was the only one who believes NAFDAC is not living up to its responsibilities.


Nigeria and negligence!! MAY GOD HELP US

ebamma: The people who bought and consumed the drugs should also be jailed for their stupidity, u see drug were the name be my pikin u still get mind buy am go take

The first time I heard of the drug name I was suspicious of it. "my pikin". Funny.

I heard it was the supplier of the raw materials, they use for producing "My Pikin" that went wrong. He supplied adulterated raw materials unknown to the producer.

The owner of the company is late.