Parents hit out at drugs firm after baby falls ill
A baby was rushed to hospital in a serious condition after taking infant medicine.
Jensen Pettitt had sickness and diarrhoea and was running a temperature when his parents gave him Galpharm’s Junior Ibuprofen.
The tot, who was three months old at the time, suffered an adverse reaction and lost consciousness.
He was taken to Maidstone Hospital where doctors spent 45 minutes working on him before he finally came round.
Mum Alison Smith has criticised the drugs firm, saying it withheld information following her complaint.
She said after Jensen, now four months old, had been given the medicine, her mother’s instinct told her his reaction wasn’t right.
Miss Smith and her partner Adrian tried the medicine and both experienced side effects, even though no one in their family is allergic to ibuprofen.
She said: “Jensen was drifting off to sleep so we phoned the 111 NHS service. He went floppy. We were banging and clapping and he just wasn’t responding.”
He has since made a full recovery.
Miss Smith, from Wouldham Court, Wouldham, contacted Tesco, Larkfield, where she had bought the medicine and producer Galpharm, which is owned by Perrigo.
Tesco immediately removed the batch – 80,000 bottles – from its shelves, but has since restocked it. A Perrigo spokesman said the product meets all regulatory standards.
They added: “After comprehensively testing the batch of the Galpharm Junior Ibuprofen in question, no identified concerns or issues with the product were found. We are very pleased to read baby Jensen is doing well.”
But Miss Smith, 36, said the pharmaceutical company only provided her with some limited test results on Friday – more than four weeks after her initial complaint – after a social media post attracted more than 26,000 shares.
Galpharm initially told her no one else had reported similar reactions, but on Friday said there were several complaints on file.
Miss Smith has been contacted by scores of parents whose children have had adverse reactions and this week, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had received more than seven similar reports.
Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch has also written to the agency
Adverse effects should be reported at www.yellowcard. mhra.gov.uk