The Irish Medicines Board is recruiting more enforcement officers as part of its clampdown on people illegally selling medical products.
Last week the IMB successfully prosecuted a Limerick businessman for illegally selling eczema creams containing steroids. In the first case of its type, Donal Walsh was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £2,700 witness expenses for breaching medicinal products laws.
The case was pursued by Mr Hugo Bonar, the IMB's only full-time enforcement officer. This week Dr Frank Hallinan, IMB chief executive, said the board would be "significantly boosting" its number of enforcement officers within the next six weeks.
"The level of illegal activity in relation to medical products has been higher than anticipated, so while we had planned to make proposals for more staff, it has happened a bit earlier than expected," he said. It is understood that a number of other IMB prosecutions are pending.
Dr Hallinan welcomed the prosecution of Walsh and said it was particularly appalling that vulnerable children should have been affected. Many parents had bought the cream to treat their children's eczema. Atopic eczema tends to affect babies at about two to three months and can continue up to three years of age. It gradually disappears in most cases.
At last week's court case, Newport District Court in Tipperary heard that Walsh assured his customers that the Cherrydex cream was a non-steroid herbal remedy and was safe and natural.
Steroid treatments are safe when medical directions are followed but are not recommended for prolonged use. Mr Bonar said the cream could have caused stunted growth if applied in heavy amounts and could induce worse eczema. He referred to one adult case where repeated application thinned the skin so much that the veins could be seen on the person's face.
Parents have complained about the lightness of the sentence given to Walsh. Ms Deborah O'Shea, who had used the product on her baby daughter, said the £3,000 fine was no deterrent. "He was charging £30 a jar so he could have been making £3,000 a week," she said. "He should have been jailed for what he did."
Dr Hallinan said he could not say if the law needed to be changed in this area but the court case would act as a deterrent to anyone illegally selling such products.
Dr James Reilly, chairman of the Irish Medical Organisation's GP committee, said people involved in illegal activity should be banned from selling health-related products. "At a minimum, they should be barred for 10 years, but unfortunately that doesn't happen. They can set up somewhere else in the morning," he said.
Dr Gillian Murphy, a consultant dermatologist, said the case highlighted the need for stringent safety regulations for alternative medicines. "If this happened with a registered practitioner, he or she would be immediately struck off," she said.
A spokesman for the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said a forum had been set up to look at the statutory registration of complementary and alternative therapists. The Minister had asked the Institute of Public Administration to report to him on the best way of regulating the sector.
The Cherrydex case is one of three "very serious" cases the IMB has acted on in recent months, according to Dr Hallinan. One involved Botox treatments administered by unauthorised practitioners, while the other involved a Chinese stomach and liver remedy, Shu Gan Wan, which was found to contain toxic levels of mercury. After the IMB intervention, it was withdrawn from sale.
The IMB advises people to check for IMB authorisation, if unsure about the legality of medical products. Products authorised by the IMB will carry the letters PA followed by a series of digits.
