Sabotage to blame in Nurofen Plus drugs mix-up?

Nursing in Practice magazine reported that the prescription medicine blister packs which were found in the Nurofen Plus packs had been cut down.

This could possibly indicate they have previously been dispensed, as some prescription medicine packs are cut down depending on how much medication a patient’s prescription demands.

But Neal Patel, of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said that “so far there is absolutely no indication of malicious intent. We know it’s not the manufacturing sites. They’ve checked the manufacturers and there’s no problem there.

“It looks like it’s further down the supply chain, so something to do with warehousing and distribution.”

A pharmaceutical industry source has told Channel 4 News that the industry supply chain is normally very robust.

Sabotage not discounted

The makers of the drug have also said it was too early to rule out sabotage.

Angie Wiles, joint chief executive of Virgo Health, which represents Nurofen Plus, said: “We are not ruling it out but we are considering other options as well. I think that is pretty unlikely.”

The swaps were discovered in Boots stores in Victoria, Bromley and Beckenham which are also all on the same train route.

Thousands of packs of Nurofen Plus could potentially have been affected.

The affected packs of Neurofen Plus all contain 32 tablets and carry the following details: Batch Number expiry Date Product Licence No
13JJ 03/2014 00327 / 0082
57JJ 05/2014 00063 / 0376
49JJ 05/2014 00063 / 0376

New packaging rules

Meanwhile, possible Europe-wide legislation is currently being discussed which could minimise the chances of such a mix-up occurring in future. Campaign group the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines has been calling for more measures to ensure what it calls “accountability throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain”.

It has been calling for better authentication of medicines primarily to reduce instances of fake drugs being sold but the technology could also be used to ensure any medicines which have been switched do not get sold.

The Europe-wide proposals call for the inclusion of what is called a 2D data matrix (which operates in a similar way to a barcode) on all packs of prescription medicines as well as a tamper-proof seal.

The data matrix would provide specific product details as well as its presentation including dose. The technology would also alert pharmacists to situations such as product recalls.

However it is unlikely to be implemented before 2015.

Anyone who has taken a Seroquel tablet and has further questions should speak to their GP or call NHS Direct on its eight-digit helpine number, 0845 46 47.