At least 84 Nigerian children have died after ingesting teething medicine that contained a solvent typically found in antifreeze, the country's health minister said Friday. Some 111 babies and children have been sickened since November by the tainted batch of 'My' Pikin medicine, which was found to contain diethylene glycol, which is used in some antifreeze and brake fluid. Tests on the teething formula showed high concentrations of diethylene glycol, Health Minister Babtunde Osotimehin said in a statement released Friday and quoted today by CNN. Exposure to the solvent can damage the kidney, heart and nervous system, Osotimehin said, and it can be fatal. The dead ranged from age 2 months to 7 years, he said. "The death of any Nigerian child is a great loss to the nation," he said. Several officials with pharmaceutical company Barewa Pharmaceutical Ltd have been charged with negligence. And the Nigeria National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, which is investigating the issue with the Ministry of Health, has shut the drug maker down.
