Poisoned medicine kills dozens of children in Nigeria

[Guest guest]

Such things can happen in any part of the world - Lokesh

 

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nneka and Chimezie Ononaku unwittingly poisoned their own four-month-old son.

 

 

 

A television image of Nneka and Chimezie Ononaku's four-month-old son, who died after taking " My Pikin. "

 

Giving him what they thought was a baby teething medicine, they were in fact dosing him with anti-freeze.

The bottle had been contaminated with a toxic chemical called diethylene glycol.

More than 30 Nigerian children are thought to have died recently after taking the medicine.

Nneka is angry.

" It's not easy carrying a pregnancy for nine months, [and] after that getting a drug from a pharmacy to kill your own child, " she says.

When Nigeria's Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) tested the medicine, " My Pikin, " the results were terrifying.

It found the medicine contained almost 90ml of diethylene glycol per 100ml.

" It's a bottle of poison, " the NAFDAC laboratory said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/12/18/nigeria.poison.drugs/index.html