LAW OFFICES OF MATHYS & SCHNEID today (Wednesday, December 12, 2007) filed a lawsuit (Case No. 2007 L 13860) against Jewel Food Stores, Johnson & Johnson, McNeil-PPC, Inc., Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and others for the death of a six (6) month old infant who died after being given prescription cough and cold medication.
The infant, six (6) month old Ashanti Webber, was recovering from pneumonia when her physician prescribed a prescription cough and cold medication, Rondec, along with an antibiotic and over the counter Infant Tylenol(R) Cold Plus. After giving the medications to her daughter for two days, Ashanti's mother, Takara Cabell found Ashanti having breathing difficulties in her crib at 5:30 a.m. on December 13, 2005. Takara called 911 and Ashanti was rushed to Rush-Copley Memorial Hospital where she later died of pseudoephedrine and dextromethorphan intoxication.
The lawsuit alleges that Jewel Food Stores, through its Jewel-Osco pharmacy, filled the prescription for Rondec with a non-generic brand called Carbaxefed DM RF, which contained three (3) active ingredients, pseudoephedrine, dextromethorphan and carbinoxamine that were never tested in infants and have been known to cause death and injury to infants in the past. The Infant Tylenol Cold Plus also contained the dangerous active ingredient, pseudoephedrine. The lawsuit alleges that Jewel-Osco, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals (makers of Carbaxefed) and Johnson & Johnson/McNeil-PPC (makers of Tylenol) were negligent in marketing and selling infant cold medications that were never approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), were never shown to actually help infants with cough and cold symptoms and contained active ingredients that were known to cause death and injury to infants in the past.
"Do not give your child under two (2) years old any prescription or over the counter cough and cold medications that contain these ingredients," said Mark W. Mathys, a partner in the law firm. "These pharmaceutical companies have been preying on parents of sick children for decades. They knew all along these medications were not shown to be effective for infants, yet they marketed and sold these medications claiming they could help a child's symptoms, even as they knew these drugs could injure or even kill the infant."
"Even more disturbing," said Mathys "is that these medications have been marketed and sold for treating infant cough and cold symptoms for years even though the drugs have never been approved by the FDA for use with infants."
This follows in the wake of another lawsuit recently filed by Law Offices of Mathys & Schneid involving the death of a two (2) month old boy, Mauricio Trujillo, just eight (8) days before Ashanti Webber's death. Mauricio was also being given Carbaxefed DM RF, dispensed by Walgreen Co.
Recently, an FDA advisory committee recommended that all over the counter (OTC) infant cough and cold medications be banned from being sold. Additionally, in June of 2006, the FDA ordered that pharmaceutical manufacturers stop making prescription cough and cold medications for infants containing unapproved carbinoxamine-containing drugs, including those with pseudoephedrine and dextromethorphan. These active ingredients have been linked to numerous infant deaths since 1983.
Contact:
Mark Mathys of Law Offices of Mathys & Schneid, +1-630-428-4040, www.mathyslaw.com.
