Kenyan-made baby painkiller Totomol recalled in Rwanda

Totomol, a painkiller made in Kenya for babies, has been recalled from the Rwandan market.

A statement from the Rwandan Food and Drug Authority (FDA) said the paracetamol suspension 120mg/5ml (Toto-moL) was found with particulate matter.

“Rwanda FDA instructs all importers, central medical stores, wholesale pharmacies, district pharmacies, retail pharmacies, public and private health facilities in possession of the said drug to stop its distribution, dispensing and return the drug to their suppliers,” FDA said on Wednesday.

Totomol is produced by Laboratory & Allied Limited, a Kenyan pharmaceutical company.

On Thursday, the Company Pharmacist Dr. Simon Muigai said they have received communication of the suspension of the drug.

“Only batch number 73718, that was exported, is affected and the company has sent notifications to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board,” he told Citizen Digital.

The batch was manufactured in February this year and its expiration date is indicated as January 2022.

Back in Rwanda, The New Times spoke to Julio Marios Musangwa, a pharmacist in Kigali to explain the quality issues that led to the suspension of Totomol that retails at Ksh. 46.

“Having crystals in a drug may more or less mean there that are impurities in it. These impurities can be of different elements that can harm the normal human cells,” Musangwa said.

Other products from Kenya that have recently been banned from the Rwandan market include seven peanut butter brands (Truenutz, Fressy, Supa Meal, Nuteez, Sue’s Naturals, Zesta and Nutty by Nature) and maize flour.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has since lifted the suspension for two of the five maize flour brands which were banned over excess levels of aflatoxin.

They are Dola from Kitui Four Mills and Kifaru by Alpha Grain Limited.