By Tabora Bojang
The Medicines Control Agency has announced that all batches of paracetamol and promethazine products manufactured by French based Farmaclair Maiden pharmaceuticals of India are confiscated, pending investigations into the acute kidney injury outbreak that has led to the death of at least 28 children recently.
As the Gambia’s Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit, the Medicines Control Agency, WHO and Unicef and other partners continue to investigate the outbreak, the MCA in an update issued Wednesday, said all brands of medicines containing paracetamol and promethazine syrup are under suspect in the AKI cases and therefore should all be off the shelves and not to be sold.
The Agency called on all importers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers including hospitals and clinics to put these stocks under quarantine with immediate effect and to stop their distribution and sale until a further notice.
The MCA added that all batches of Panadol manufactured by Farmaclair and Promethazine manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals are being confiscated until further notice. “We are still receiving reports that combination of syrups containing paracetamol e.g., teething mixtures and cold syrups are still being sold despite the warning to stop selling all brands of paracetamol and promethazine.
The agency warned that severe regulatory sanctions will be applied to all “offenders.”
