Coroner issues warning following death of three babies

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A coroner has issued a warning following the deaths of three babies who received contaminated feed in hospital. All three were undergoing care after being born premature.

The babies tragically died after receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN) feed contaminated with Bacillus cereus. Three-month-old Aviva Otte, one-month-old Oscar Barker and nine-day-old Yousef Al-Kharboush were being provided critical nutrition via TPN, Now, a coroner has warned that more babies could die due to issues with unlicensed medicines if providers do not face stricter requirements to report problems.

An inquest at Southwark Coroner’s Court included the Bacillus cereus contaminant in each of cause of death for the three infants. READ MORE: UK snow LIVE: Amber cold weather alert issued as Met Office snow warnings in place Aviva died in January 2014 at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London and received TPN “provided and compounded” by the NHS establishment under a section 10 exemption, according to a preventing future deaths (PFD) report by senior coroner Dr Julian Morris.

The exemption under the Medicines Act 1968 allows organisations to legally produce bespoke medicines without a licence for specific patients facing niche problems.