Pharmaceutical firm recalls 32 medicines for children

Company cites possible microbial contamination

A company that makes children’s water-based spray or liquid medicines says it is voluntarily recalling 32 different medicines because of possible microbial contamination that could be life-threatening to some children.

King Bio, a company based in North Carolina, said this week that in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration it was voluntarily recalling products from three of its lines of natural children’s medicines: Dr. King’s Natural Medicine, Aquaflora and SafeCare Rx.

The Dr. King’s Natural Medicine, also known as DK, and the Aquaflora lines can be found online and in some national pharmacy chains, such as CVS. The

SafeCare Rx line, also known as SCRX, is sold only by doctors’ offices but does not require a prescription.

Although the King Bio products are sold nationally, it was not clear if any stores or doctors in the Pittsburgh area sold the company’s products. None of the major pharmacy chains’ websites indicated that any local stores had the products available for sale, and the Allegheny County Health Department said it had not received any calls about the recall.

CVS said in a statement that all of the recalled products would be removed from sale online, adding that the products were not sold in retail stores.

Although King Bio said in a news release that it had not yet received any reports of injury or illness, “Administration or use of drug products with microbial contamination could potentially result in increased infections that may require medical intervention, and could result in infections that could be life-threatening to certain individuals.”

The FDA said in a statement that the contamination was detected during an inspection earlier this summer; that inspection apparently led to the recall of three other Bio King products in July. It was unclear how the contamination in the additional 32 products was detected.

The company said that only a “small percentage” of the products that were made between Aug. 1, 2017, and April had so far tested positive, but it’s recalling all of the products “out of an abundance of caution.”

The products were distributed across the country to stores and distributors between August 2017 and July.

The company said it was notifying both consumers and distributors by letter and would replace all recalled products. It warned consumers that if they had any of the 32 medicines, they should stop using them and contact the company to arrange for returns.

Customers who want to make arrangements to return medicine, or who have questions, can contact King Bio by email at recall@kingbio.com or call 866-298-2740 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

The company also said those who had experienced problems that might be related to using any of the medicines should call their physicians.

Here is a list of the recalled medicines, all of which are in 2-ounce bottles unless noted:

• Attention & Learning Enhancement

• Chicken Pox Symptom Relief

• Children’s Appetite & Weight

• Children’s Appetite Enhance • Children’s Cough Relief • Children’s Fever Reliever

• Children’s Growth & Development • DK Newborn Tonic • DK Nosebleed Relief • TonsilPlex • Children’s Ear Relief Formula • DK Teething • DK Colic Relief •Tummy Aches • Kids Multi-Strain Flu Relief • Kids Stress & Anxiety • Kids Sleep Aid • Kids Bed Wetting (NP) • Kids Candida 4 oz. (Aquaflora)

• Kids Attention & Learning (SCRX)

• Bed Wetting Prevention (SCRX)

• Chicken Pox Symptom Relief (SCRX)

• Children’s Cough (SCRX)

• Children’s Ear Formula (SCRX)

• Children’s Fever Reliever (SCRX)

• Children’s Growth & Development (SCRX) • Colic Relief (SCRX) • Newborn Tonic (SCRX) • Teething (SCRX) • Tummy Aches (SCRX) • Children’s Appetite & Weight (SCRX)

• Children’s Appetite Enhancer (SCRX)

Sean D. Hamill: shamill@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2579 or Twitter: @SeanDHamill.