Sola Ogundipe and Chioma Obinna
3 December 2008
The end to the protracted killer- teething mixture saga may not be in sight as many other pharmaceutical manufacturing companies have been found culpable in the purchase and use of the contaminated chemical used in the production of 'My Pikin' Teething Mixture which has continued to claim the lives of many Nigerian children.
The companies are Gauze Pharm Ltd of Enu-Ifite Village, Awka, Anambra State, Sagar Overseas of 2B Industrial Estate and Arcee Textile Compound, Aswani Market Road, Isola, Lagos.
This is the state of things at the moment even as the National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in a bid to forestall further loss of lives has placed an order for urgent importation of an antidote to the killer chemical (Diethyleneglylol) even as a total number of My Pikin retrieved from across the country amounted to 425 bottles, 297 from Rivers State, 81 from Kaduna State and 47 from Lagos.
But even this gallant effort was not in time to save five more children who died at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) on Monday, 1st of December, 2008. It was gathered that the children still died despite dialysis treatment because the kidneys were already damaged. However, seven children who took My Pikin are still on admission at the hospital.
Already one of the three indicted pharmaceutical companies under investigation has been sealed and the fourth, which is a textile company has been investigated and found to be using the chemicals as resins in their textile operations.
In a statement yesterday evening, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Dora Akunyili, who gave a run down on how the chemical entered into the teething mixture said the Managing Director of Barewa Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Mr. Kola Okunola and Production Manager and Quality Assurance Manager are in NAFDAC enforcement for interrogation.
According to her, "Mr. Okunola, while under detention, admitted buying 40 litres of Propyleneglycol from Tranxell Ltd. This was sold in a plastic jerry can and was not in the original packaging, and the supplier is not a registered chemicals marketer. The non registered chemicals marketer is Mr. Ikem Omalu of Tranxell Ltd.
"On investigation, it was confirmed that all the raw material purchased by Barewa Pharmaceuticals in the past, were bought in their original packaging with their certificates of analysis, which is the right thing to do."
On this occasion, the raw material was bought in a jerry can, not the original container, and with no certificate of analysis, and this has been identified as the source of contamination with diethyleneglycol. This is how the poisonous chemical entered into My Pikin teething mixture Batch No.02008"
She explained that Mr. Ikem Omalu of Tranxell Ltd said that he bought from a shop owned by Mr Emeka Onwalia, in an open market near Ojota bus stop.
"Emeka Onwalia claimed he bought from Kenneth Azogba. Kenneth claimed that he bought from one Chinwendu Morako, who claimed that he bought from someone on the run. All this took place in the same open market at Ojota.
The stall of the person on the run has been closed by NAFDAC. We suspect that Chinwendu Morako is not his real name. He, together with Ikem Omalu, Emeka Onwalia, Kenneth Azogba, are also unregistered chemicals marketers and have all been arrested by NAFDAC and are currently under detention. The marketers involved have made useful statements to the Police and investigation continues."
The DG further disclosed that so far, reports from 33 States have been received and findings show that the distribution of My Pikin is restricted to certain States (Lagos, Kaduna State, Aba in Abia State and Port Harcourt in Rivers State. Akunyili said 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 trace the contaminating chemical from its source to its end use.
Commenting on the procurement of the antidotes, She said 100 doses of the antidotes will be flown in on Thursday morning from London to be distributed to the major hospitals where the cases have been reported.
She said the Agency is making concerted efforts to track down the main importer of the contaminated chemical sold to Barewa Pharmaceuticals Limited.
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.
She also disclosed that the distributor of My Pikin teething mixture for Barewa Pharmaceuticals Ltd in the North is one Mrs. Josephine Agbo, has been on the run since last week, even though the Agency had withdrawn 81 more bottles from circulation in Kaduna metropolis.
Giving details on the number of contaminated bottles of my pikin recovered so far, she said, "In Lagos, Rato Pharmacy in Agege LGA, the following Batches of My Pikin Teething Mixture were retrieved: 02108 (24 bottles); 01808 (11 bottles); 01208 (1 bottle); 01408 (1 bottle). A total of 47 bottles.
"In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Pharmacist T. Makinde of Tomak Pharmacy was arrested on 26/11/08 and his shop sealed by NAFDAC because he went to Aba and retrieved all the My Pikin teething mixtures he supplied to his customers and hid them. NAFDAC officers in Aba got this information and alerted their counterparts in Port Harcourt.
The Pharmacist's refusal to surrender what he had in his shop led to his arrest and detention. Eventually, he released the keys to his shop where the products were withdrawn. Several other unregistered drug products were seized. He has been released on bail, under a bail bond of N500,000.00. His shop remains sealed"
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