Newborn died at 9 days of age after being given contaminated food in hospital

Yousef Al-Kharboush was born prematurely and received a contaminated batch of Total Parenteral Nutrition from ITH Pharma, resulting in his death at just nine days old

A newborn baby tragically died at just nine days old after being given contaminated food in hospital, a court has heard.

Yousef Al-Kharboush died of sepsis after being administered a contaminated batch of liquid.

Unfortunately, he was one of three infants to die and one of 19 infants in nine hospitals across England to fall ill. My London Reports .

All of them had been on ITH Pharmas Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) drips, but with a contaminated batch.

Unable to feed themselves, all the tots were injected with TPN directly into their bloodstream between May 27 and June 2 this year.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said: “The prosecution case believes very strongly that Yousef’s death was the result of the way this company carried out the manufacturing activity and in particular the lack of a risk assessment.”

Yousef and his twin brother Abdulilah were born in May 2014 at 32 weeks gestation via emergency caesarean section at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London.

In the intensive care unit, both were fed intravenously, but while Abdulilah was unaffected, Yousef died on June 1, 2014.

Tameria Aldrich and Oscar Barker were two of the other infants who contracted the contaminated TPN.

Tameria, whose twin sister Tia survived, died nine days after Yousef on June 10, while Oscar died at Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge.

Tameria died nine days after Yousef on June 10 after being transferred to the same hospital while her twin sister Tia survived.

Oscar died at the Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge.

As the pharmaceutical company was sentenced in court, Tameria’s mother Vicki Golden wept next to Holly Barker, whose son also died at another hospital, when the verdict was handed down today.

The judge imposed an order on ITH Pharma – which had annual sales of EUR 66.8 million as of September 2020.

Yousef’s father, Raaid Sakkijha, and mother, Ghada Sakkijha, now live in Saudi Arabia and were unable to attend the hearing via video link.

Mr Sakkijha said in a statement: “The horrific memories still haunt us and will forever.

“Every time Ghada looks at Yousef’s twin brother, she feels the loss of her son.

“This company that did this to us will not even feel the punishment. It’s the same as always for her. Is that fair?”

Arti Shah, medical negligence attorney at Fieldfisher, the law firm representing the families of Yousef, Tameria and Oscar in civil litigation, said: “For eight years, ITH Pharma has continued to operate normally. Yousef’s parents have been living in hell for eight years. And the company still hasn’t admitted causing Yousef’s death.”

Ms Golden, 39, who is from Essex, said ITH Pharma had “played Russian roulette with people’s lives”.

She added:; “It was only a matter of time before something bad happened. We fought for justice for my daughter for eight years and I just feel like that in itself wasn’t justice.

“I went through eight years of hell. I always felt that food contributed to my daughter’s death.”

A spokesman for ITH Pharma said: “First and foremost, we at ITH Pharma extend our deepest condolences to the families of the patients affected by the events eight years ago.

“We accept the fine imposed by the court after pleading guilty to a single misdemeanor of failure to have an adequate and sufficient risk assessment under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance 1999 and two misdemeanor under the Drugs Act 1968 of dispensing on May 27, 2014 a drug that did not is of the type or quality stated in the prescription.

“ITH Pharma has been a leading manufacturer of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and other pharmaceuticals for many years and the events of May 27, 2014 were absolutely extraordinary.

“Since 2008, parenteral nutrition manufactured by ITH has helped tens of thousands of the most vulnerable babies survive preterm and complex births.

“We are proud to be trusted by the NHS to support patients in this important work.”

ITH Pharma had pleaded guilty to three offences, including failing to provide a proper and sufficient risk assessment for the supply of TPN to patients between August 1st, 2009 and June 1st, 2014 and two charges of supplying a drug not of the nature of the Quality established according to the Medicines Law of May 27, 2014.

One of the charges under the Medicines Act involves Yousef, while the second involves the 18 other babies who became ill and four others who were prescribed but never given TPN.

Karen Hamling, Managing Director of ITH Pharma, sat in the visitors’ gallery during the hearing.

In a statement, she said she had felt “mixed” feelings since 2014, including “desperate fear for the babies who were receiving contaminated TPN and their parents” as well as “anger and sadness” at how “the company was being attacked.”

“I am sincerely sorry that a product we have manufactured may have harmed or risked someone,” she added.