DIETHYLNE GLYCOL

25 children dead

11-28-2008 | AP AND STAFF

The poison that killed at least 116 people in Panama has been found in a teething product in Nigeria whose government moved swiftly.

Panama Star LAGOS. Nigeria –Diethylene glycol a toxic thickening agent that caused the deaths of at least 116 people in Panama has killed 25 children in Nigeria where it was found in a teething formula.

Regulators have yanked it from shelves and shut down its manufacturer.

The national food and drug administration was scouring Africa's most populous country for about 3,000 bottles of "My Pikin Baby Teething Mixture," which had been inadvertently tainted with diethylene glycol,Doris Akunyili the agency's head said. Eleven other children were being treated after ingesting the compound meant to soothe a teething infant's sore gums.

"This makes me so miserable. I'm very depressed," said Akunyili. "I found it pitiable that Nigerian babies are dying this way."

The afflicted children were stricken with fever, convulsions, diarrhea, vomiting and were unable to urinate, Akunyili's agency said.

Diethylene glycol is commonly found in antifreeze and brake fluid and sometimes used illegally as a cheaper alternative to glycerin, which thickens toothpaste. Exposure can cause kidney and liver damage over time. Akunyili said the children died of kidney failure.

The contaminant has been implicated in poisoning cases around the world, including in Panama, where it was found in contaminated cough syrup, antihistamine tablets, calamine lotion and rash ointment made at a government laboratory.

The Nigerian agency said that the manufacturer, Lagos-based Barewa Pharmaceuticals Ltd., has been closed and the formula ordered removed from shelves across the massive nation.