THE IRISH Medicines Board has said there is no evidence that batches of Nurofen Plus, which mistakenly contain blister packs of anti-psychotic drugs, have been sold in Ireland.
It follows warnings to customers in Britain and Northern Ireland by the UK’s medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency yesterday about packets of Nurofen Plus. It had emerged that boxes of the medication may actually contain blister packs of Seroquel XL, a prescription-only anti-psychotic drug. That drug is used to treat disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar depression.
However, a spokeswoman for the Irish Medicines Board said last night that there was no evidence at present to suggest that any stock in Ireland was affected.
“The IMB is actively investigating the matter and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” she said.
People who accidentally take Seroquel may experience sleepiness, dizziness and headache.
The large capsules of Seroquel XL 50mg tablets have gold and black packaging while Nurofen Plus tablets are smaller and have silver and black packaging.
Reckitt Benckiser, manufacturer of Nurofen Plus, said “serious investigations” were under way to establish how the mix-up occurred, especially as Seroquel XL was manufactured by another drug firm, AstraZeneca.
“After careful review of the manufacturing system, manufacturing errors by the makers of Nurofen Plus or Seroquel XL are not thought to be part of the cause at this stage,” the statement said. –(Additional reporting PA)