£1.2m fine for supplying contaminated baby feed

A pharmaceutical company has been fined more than £1.2 million after supplying contaminated feed for premature babies.

Some 19 infants were infected at nine hospitals in England after receiving a contaminated batch of ITH Pharma’s total parenteral nutrition (TPN). They were given the fluid between May 27 and June 2 2014 as nutrition directly into their bloodstream. Three babies later died.

Prosecutors said ITH Pharma’s failure to carry out a proper risk assessment resulted in the death of one baby, though TPN was not alleged to have caused the deaths of the other two babies.