Expired drug kills 10 kids with leukemia in Yemen

Cairo, October 14

Some 10 child leukemia patients in Yemen have died and dozens left seriously ill after being administered expired doses of cancer treatment in the rebel-held capital. According to health officials and workers, some 50 children received smuggled chemotherapy treatment ‘Methotrexate’ originally manufactured in India.

They said a total of 19 children had died. The officials and workers spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The children, aged between three and 15, died at Sanaa’s Kuwait Hospital after being injected with old doses of smuggled medicine at a number of private clinics, the rebel-run Health Ministry said. The officials did not say when the 10 deaths occurred.

Yemen’s ruinous conflict, now entering its eighth year, has caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and killed more than 150,000 persons. Several doctors in Sanaa said Houthi officials secretly worked in partnership with medicine smugglers who often sold expired treatment to private clinics from storage houses across the country.

The Houthis have in the past tried to cover up causes of death. During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, doctors accused the Houthi government of coercing medical workers to falsify death certificates.

The family of one of a deceased child said their son felt pains and cramps after receiving the expired chemotherapy treatment and died five days later. “The worst thing was the hospital administration tried to hide the truth from us,” said the boy’s father.

On October 5, the World Health Organisation flagged four “contaminated” cough syrups made by Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, an Indian company, warning that they could be linked to the deaths of 66 children in the West African nation of Gambia. — AP

Nexus to blame

Doctors in Sanaa said Houthi officials secretly worked in partnership with medicine smugglers who often sold expired treatment to private clinics from storage houses across Yemen. The Houthis have in the past tried to cover up causes of death