Investigation into unauthorised sale of antibiotics
An investigation has been launched into an unauthorised sale of antibiotics after a worried mother reported the powdered substance to a hospital after giving it to her baby.
The probe, being led by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), centres around the purchase of Augmentin ES at a shop in the Handsworth area of Birmingham.
Parents, who suspected their 12-month old boy had an infection, bought the £21.50 medicine over the counter without a prescription and were told to mix it with water.
But they took the youngster to City Hospital showing the bottle to doctors when his condition failed to improve.
The baby was diagnosed with cold symptoms and was not thought to have been harmed by the antibiotic, but consultants expressed concerns that the powder contained Penicillin which can be ‘deadly’ to anyone who is allergic.
The antibiotic is not available for sale in the UK and can only be purchased elsewhere in Europe, particularly Romania. The incident was reported to West Midlands Police on May 7.
It has now been revealed in a Birmingham City Council report after one shop in the area applied for the authority to grant it a licence to sell alcohol.
Police have objected to the application citing the alleged sale as a concern, although the force is uncertain which shop supplied the antibiotics.
Force logs, which have been made public as part of the licensing bid, state the child’s mother initially claimed to have purchased the medicine from a shop on Rookery Road.
But they also state she was unable to provide further information about the shop to doctors because she spoke ‘no or little English’ herself.
A statement from Sgt. Andrew Wareham, from the Soho Road Neighbourhood Police Team, said doctors were happy that the parents were simply acting ‘in the best interests of their child’ but added they were ‘worried’ for the ‘greater public safety issues’.
He added: “Under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 it is a criminal offence to sell or supply medicines without an appropriate licence. This matter is still being investigated by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.)”
A police spokeswoman confirmed that the antibiotics sale could have been made from one of a number of shops in the Handsworth area.
She stated the force was unlikely to take any criminal action, re-iterating that the investigation was being led by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
