French authorities have moved to suspend sales of a vitamin D supplement following the tragic death of a 10-day-old infant. The baby was said to have suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest after being given the drops.
The country’s National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) announced a precautionary measure on Wednesday to suspend the sale of the Uvestérol D supplement manufactured by Crinex Laboratories.
Other brands of vitamin D are not affected. The ADEC formulation of Uvestérol, which is also administered with a pipette, has not been suspended.
The French Ministry of Health have stated that the risk incurred by the administration of ADEC, is lower than the benefits provided to infants.
The Ministry have also said that children who have already received this drug are at no risk as it is the particular mode of administration of the product that presents a risk and not vitamin D in itself.
As vitamin D is essential for the development of infants, the French Health Minister has called on GPs to offer vitamin D in another form.
The National Agency issued a statement on the individual case:
“Investigations are under way to determine the exact causes of death and whether it is likely to be attributed to Uvestérol.”
The organisation commented that the initial conclusions of the investigation will be released in the coming days.
