Baby nutrition firm charged over tragedy
A FATHER spoke out yesterday about the agony of losing one of his twin baby sons as police investigating infant deaths charged a pharmaceutical firm over contaminated intravenous baby feed.
London-based ITH Pharma is facing seven counts of “supplying a medicinal product which was not of the nature or quality specified in the prescription”.
The investigation was launched after three premature babies died and 20 more contracted septicaemia in NHS hospitals after being given the company’s Total Parenteral Nutrition feed in 2014.
Impossible
The death of nine-day-old Yousef Al-Kharboush, at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, has been found to be linked to the product.
Yousef’s father Raaid Sakkijha said waiting for the investigation to lead to action had been “like living with an open wound that will not close”.
“We have found it impossible to move on while the case is ongoing,” he said. “I am not sure that we will ever come to terms with what happened.
“We never celebrate events such as Yousef’s brother’s birthday because it is too painful a reminder of what we’ve lost.”
Yousef and his twin brother Abdulilah were born by emergency caesarean section at 32 weeks in May 2014.
While in intensive care they were both given feed allegedly contaminated with the bacteria bacillus cereus via an intravenous drip.
Abdulilah was not affected but Yousef contracted septicaemia and died of blood poisoning.
The family’s lawyer, Arti Shah, from legal firm Fieldfisher, said the family had suffered “the worst grief imaginable” knowing their son’s death was avoidable.
She added: “It has been incredibly hard for Yousef’s parents to have to wait so long for a charging decision while the company has simply been allowed to continue to trade.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed that the charges relate to seven babies who received the contaminated feed.
ITH Pharma has also been charged with failing to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that patients were not infected by contaminants.
The firm has vowed to fight the charges and said in a statement: “As founders of ITH we have every sympathy for all the families affected, regardless of the cause.
“However, we are disappointed by the decision to charge the company and will vigorously defend this case.
Helped
“Since 2008, ITH has manufactured more than 1.4 million components of Total Parenteral Nutrition and is the sole commercial supplier of reactive feeding solutions to the NHS.
“This product has helped thousands of extremely vulnerable infants survive premature and complex births.
“ITH imposes rigorous environmental monitoring on its manufacturing process.”
Representatives of ITH Pharma are due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on December 17.