OT: Nigeria shuts drugmaker for diethylene glycol in infant syprup

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Diethylene glycol. Now that rings a bell.

http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/11/nigeria-shuts-drugmaker-after-syrup-

kills-infants/

• Pharma Blog » 2008 » November » 26

Nigeria Shuts Drugmaker After Syrup Kills Infants

By Ed Silverman // November 26th, 2008 // 8:19 am

A local drugmaker based in Lagos was shuttered after contaminated

teething syrup killed 25 infants and hospitalized at least 10 more,

Reuters reports. The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration

and Control (NAFDAC) says tests show the chemical diethylene glycol,

a poisonous substance normally used in engine coolant, had triggered

kidney failure in the infants.

The children died at three hospitals across Africa's most populous

nation - the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), the UCH

hospital in the southwestern town of Ibadan and the ABUTH hospital in

the northern town of Zaria. " In all the recorded cases at ABUTH, UCH

and LUTH the drug common to all the patients was My Pikin baby

teething mixture, " NAFDAC said in a statement. Symptoms included

diarrhea, vomiting, fever, convulsions and an inability to pass urine

for days.

The agency first received reports of a case of possible contamination

from the Zaria hospital on November 19 and that it had started

confiscating batches of the syrup two days later after carrying out

tests. The manufacturer, Barewa Pharmaceuticals, was subsequently

shut down, but could not immediately be reached for comment, Reuters

writes.