My Pikin: NAFDAC arrests Barewa MD, three others

By Niyi Odebode and Victor Sam

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, on Tuesday, said that it had arrested the Managing Director of Barewa Pharmaceuticals Limited, Mr. Kola Okunola, the manufacturer of the alleged contaminated teething mixture, My Pikin.






The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who said this in an interview with journalists at the Senate on Tuesday, said the agency was doing everything possible to mop up what was left of the drug from the market.

She said this just as five more children, aged four months to two years, died of renal failure between Friday and Monday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

Besides the managing director, the agency had also arrested the quality assurance manager of Barewa, its production manager and sealed another firm, Gauze Pharm Ltd, Enu-Ifite Village, Awka, Anambra State.

According to the agency, Gauze was sealed because Tranxell Ltd in Ilasamaja, which sold Propyleneglycol to Barewa, also sold the chemical to the Awka-based company. NAFDAC had arrested the owner of Tranxell, Ikem Omalu, last Thursday.

The agency added that it arrested one pharmacist, T. Makinde of Tomak Pharm, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

NAFDAC said that the death toll had risen to 34, stating that the pharmacist was arrested on November 26 "because he went to Aba and retrieved all the My Pikin teething mixture he supplied to his customers and hid them."

Akunyili said that the agency would get to the root of the matter. She said, "It is as important as mopping and stopping people from buying it. Now most people have gotten the information thorough our enlightenment.

"The MD of Barewa has been arrested and he is giving us useful information. We have found out that the basic problem was the procurement of the chemical propylene glycol in jerry cans.

"It was not procured in its original containers. The original containers have certificate of analysis and certificate of clean bills. So that you can be sure of what you are buying.

"But they went and bought it from Ojota (Lagos) open market from somebody who bought from somebody in Ojota open market in jerry cans."

According to Akunyili, the contaminated chemical was used for the preparation of the drug in batch number 020008 3000 bottles.

She also said efforts were on to make Nigeria a hub for the production of reliable pharmaceutical and food products in Africa so that our products would be accepted just like drugs from India and China.

She added, "The most important thing in regulation is to avoid being compromised. When a regulator is not compromised, the job is 90 per cent done. So I believe that NAFDAC will continue to move ahead even without my being there because we have put in place standard operating procedures and guidelines.

Investigations by our correspondent on Tuesday showed that deaths at LASUTH occurred at new dialysis centre of the hospital.

Our correspondent learnt that mothers of four of the dead children administered the drug on the kids.

A doctor at the Bola Tinubu Ward Two, who pleaded for anonymity, said, "About eight children are on admission for cases of renal failure. The children exhibited conditions similar to those that had earlier died of renal failure. In the latest deaths, one of the mother said that she did not give the teething mixture on her child."

Efforts to get the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Dr. Femi Olugbile's comment did not succeed. When our correspondent got to the hospital at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, he was told to wait as the CMD had gone for a meeting with the health commissioner.

He had not return by 4pm when our correspondent left the hospital.

The deaths at LASUTH occurred just as the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Prof. Akin Osibogun, announced the results of investigation into deaths of 20 children in the hospital.

He said that findings by the institution showed that only 43 per cent of the children admitted to the hospital for renal failure took the teething mixture.

In an interview with our correspondent, Osibogun said that others did not take the teething mixture, which NAFDAC claimed was contaminated.

Explaining the investigation carried out so far by the hospital, the chief medical director said that the institution carried out autopsies on the children to know whether they took contaminated milk, which caused renal failure among Chinese children.

He, however, said that the test was negative as the institution discovered that the children did not take the any contaminated milk.

Osibogun added that LUTH, in collaboration with the Lagos State \Government had collected samples of paracetamol syrup from markets across the state for analysis.
My Pikin: NAFDAC arrests Barewa MD, three others

By Niyi Odebode and Victor Sam

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, on Tuesday, said that it had arrested the Managing Director of Barewa Pharmaceuticals Limited, Mr. Kola Okunola, the manufacturer of the alleged contaminated teething mixture, My Pikin.




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The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who said this in an interview with journalists at the Senate on Tuesday, said the agency was doing everything possible to mop up what was left of the drug from the market.

She said this just as five more children, aged four months to two years, died of renal failure between Friday and Monday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

Besides the managing director, the agency had also arrested the quality assurance manager of Barewa, its production manager and sealed another firm, Gauze Pharm Ltd, Enu-Ifite Village, Awka, Anambra State.

According to the agency, Gauze was sealed because Tranxell Ltd in Ilasamaja, which sold Propyleneglycol to Barewa, also sold the chemical to the Awka-based company. NAFDAC had arrested the owner of Tranxell, Ikem Omalu, last Thursday.

The agency added that it arrested one pharmacist, T. Makinde of Tomak Pharm, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

NAFDAC said that the death toll had risen to 34, stating that the pharmacist was arrested on November 26 "because he went to Aba and retrieved all the My Pikin teething mixture he supplied to his customers and hid them."

Akunyili said that the agency would get to the root of the matter. She said, "It is as important as mopping and stopping people from buying it. Now most people have gotten the information thorough our enlightenment.

"The MD of Barewa has been arrested and he is giving us useful information. We have found out that the basic problem was the procurement of the chemical propylene glycol in jerry cans.

"It was not procured in its original containers. The original containers have certificate of analysis and certificate of clean bills. So that you can be sure of what you are buying.

"But they went and bought it from Ojota (Lagos) open market from somebody who bought from somebody in Ojota open market in jerry cans."

According to Akunyili, the contaminated chemical was used for the preparation of the drug in batch number 020008 3000 bottles.

She also said efforts were on to make Nigeria a hub for the production of reliable pharmaceutical and food products in Africa so that our products would be accepted just like drugs from India and China.

She added, "The most important thing in regulation is to avoid being compromised. When a regulator is not compromised, the job is 90 per cent done. So I believe that NAFDAC will continue to move ahead even without my being there because we have put in place standard operating procedures and guidelines.

Investigations by our correspondent on Tuesday showed that deaths at LASUTH occurred at new dialysis centre of the hospital.

Our correspondent learnt that mothers of four of the dead children administered the drug on the kids.

A doctor at the Bola Tinubu Ward Two, who pleaded for anonymity, said, "About eight children are on admission for cases of renal failure. The children exhibited conditions similar to those that had earlier died of renal failure. In the latest deaths, one of the mother said that she did not give the teething mixture on her child."

Efforts to get the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Dr. Femi Olugbile's comment did not succeed. When our correspondent got to the hospital at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, he was told to wait as the CMD had gone for a meeting with the health commissioner.

He had not return by 4pm when our correspondent left the hospital.

The deaths at LASUTH occurred just as the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Prof. Akin Osibogun, announced the results of investigation into deaths of 20 children in the hospital.

He said that findings by the institution showed that only 43 per cent of the children admitted to the hospital for renal failure took the teething mixture.

In an interview with our correspondent, Osibogun said that others did not take the teething mixture, which NAFDAC claimed was contaminated.

Explaining the investigation carried out so far by the hospital, the chief medical director said that the institution carried out autopsies on the children to know whether they took contaminated milk, which caused renal failure among Chinese children.

He, however, said that the test was negative as the institution discovered that the children did not take the any contaminated milk.

Osibogun added that LUTH, in collaboration with the Lagos State \Government had collected samples of paracetamol syrup from markets across the state for analysis.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/dec/3/413.html

ghati all over the place

Antidote for killer baby drug arrives tomorrow
By Chukwuma Muanya and Azimazi Momoh Jimoh,Abuja

AN antidote to the killer teething drug, My Pikin, which has claimed the lives of many babies is to arrive the country tomorrow.



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However, death toll from the drug has hit 42 following the demise of five more children on Monday at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, Kaduna State. As at Friday November 28, 2008, 37 children had died from taking the drug.

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), ordered the importation.

Head Public Relations Unit of NAFDAC, Abubakar Jimoh, told The Guardian yesterday that the agency received a clinical case report from ABUTH on Monday on the death of five more children. "The children still died in spite of dialysis treatment because the kidneys were already damaged. In Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), seven children who took My Pikin are still on admission," he said.

Jimoh said NAFDAC is making every effort possible to address this problem, including urgent importation of an antidote as requested by a hospital. "This was done yesterday and 100 doses will be flown in on Thursday morning from London to be distributed to the major hospitals where the cases have been reported," he said.

A breakdown indicate: 20 from Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), seven from University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, and 16 from ABUTH. The seven from UCH include the five that have been unaccounted for after they discharged themselves against doctors' advise.

Jimoh said a total number of My Pikin that have been retrieved from across the country is 425 bottles: 297 from Rivers State; 81 from Kaduna State; and 47 from Lagos.

He said reports from 33 states have been received. "Findings show that the distribution of My Pikin is restricted to Lagos, Kaduna, Aba and Port Harcourt.

"1,675 outlets were visited, including Pharmacies, patent medicine stores, market stalls, clinics and hospitals. 2,057 bottles were recovered with (batches: 01708, 01508, 01908, 00207, 01308, 01408, 01208, 00508, 02008, 01408, 01007, 01305, 02208, 02108, 00806, 00207, 01108, 01407, 00706).

"Out of the total, 255 bottles of batch 02008 (the contaminated batch) were recovered. Over the last few days, NAFDAC has endeavoured to trace the procurement and distribution of the chemical marketers, with a view to tracing the contaminating chemical from its source to its end."

He said the agency was making concerted efforts to track down the main importer of the contaminated chemical sold to Barewa Pharmaceuticals Limited, the manufacturers of My Pikin. "This action is very crucial in order to stop illegal imports, even though the Pharmaceutical Company was not supposed to have sourced its raw materials from open markets, and worse still, obtained decanted quantities of the said raw material into an un-labeled and unsealed plastic container. Barewa Pharmaceuticals is responsible for ensuring that it sources all raw materials from credible certified chemical importers, who would have issued a Certificate of Analysis for each raw material and in its final container. The Jerry-Can of chemical found in the company's warehouse had no label, no seal and no Certificate of Analysis accompanying it," Jimoh said.

Meanwhile, in an interview at the National Assembly yesterday, outgoing NAFDAC chairman, Prof. Dora Akunyili, said NAFDAC was on top of the situation.

On the task before her successor in NAFDAC, Akunyili said: "I would want my successor not only to build on what we have but think of new ideas because we need to continue to think up new things to do since the criminals are not resting but also working hard to overtake us and we will not allow them to over take us."

She advised that all tendencies of being compromised should be avoided.

"The most important thing in regulation is to avoid being compromised. When a regulator is not compromised, the job is 90 per cent done. So I believe that NAFDAC will continue to move ahead even without my being there because we have put in place standard operating procedures and guidelines. We have so much institutionalized the system that it no longer depends on any person or group. I therefore feel very strongly that the system will be sustained and will surpass what it is today.

I will still be looking into the place because NAFDAC is like a baby to me. There is no way I can be anywhere in this country without finding out what is happening there and how they are doing and offering my advice."

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/dec/3/14.html

[b]ghati [/b]all over the place

One day they will pay for the lives of the innocent children they murdered!

One day they will pay for the lives of the innocent children they murdered

The day is here.

Enriching themsevles at the expence of other peoples lives. naija style

And now after killing the innocent children they hav awarded contract for the purchase of antidote.
Chei,my heart bleeds for this hopeless Nigeria