Police investigating the deaths and illnesses of premature babies given contaminated food at British hospitals have charged a pharmaceutical company with a series of offences.
London-based ITH Pharma are accused of seven counts of “supplying medicines not of the nature or quality specified” and failing to take all reasonable steps to ensure patients were not infected with contaminants.
The charges follow a four-year investigation by the Metropolitan Police into a contaminated batch of drip feed distributed to NHS hospitals in May 2014.
Scotland Yard launched the probe after nine-day-old Yousef Al-Kharboush died on 1 June that year after contracting an infection at St Thomas’ hospital in Lambeth, London.
Two other babies died and another 20 fell ill at nine hospitals in total. All developed blood poisoning after receiving intravenous food, known as total parental nutrition (TPN), manufactured by ITH Pharma.
The company said it had “every sympathy for all the families affected” but would “vigorously defend this case”.
Yousef’s parents said the lengthy police investigation had been “like living with an open wound that will not close”.
He and his twin brother Abdulilah were born by emergency Caesarean section at 32 weeks’ gestation.
While in intensive care, they were both fed intravenously and, while Abdulilah was not affected, Yousef contracted septicaemia.
His father Raaid Sakkijha said: ”We have found it impossible to move on while the case is ongoing, I am not sure that we will ever come to terms with what happened.
“We never celebrate events such as Yousef’s brother’s birthday because it is too painful a reminder of what we’ve lost.”
The family’s solicitor Arti Shah, from legal firm Fieldfisher, said: “It has been incredibly hard for Yousef’s parents to have to wait so long for a charging decision while the company has simply been allowed to continue to trade.
“Yousef’s family has suffered the worst grief imaginable, knowing that Yousef’s death was avoidable.”
In a statement, ITH Pharma said: “We have every sympathy for all the families affected, regardless of the cause. However, we are disappointed by the decision to charge the company and will vigorously defend this case.
“Since 2008, ITH has manufactured more than 1.4 million components of total parenteral nutrition and is the sole commercial supplier of reactive feeding solutions to the NHS. This product has helped thousands of extremely vulnerable infants survive premature and complex births.
“ITH imposes rigorous environmental monitoring on its manufacturing process. The company has always had a strong relationship with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and continues to receive exemplary ratings for quality and safety.”
The north-west London firm will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 17 December.
