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Pregnant women who consumed expired vitamins, falling sick, seek justice
After only taking the drugs twice, Novi began to feel headaches, stomachaches and nausea and was vomiting more severely and more often than she usually did during her pregnancy.
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The expired vitamins that were allegedly prescribed to a pregnant woman in North Jakarta. (courtesy of Novi Sri Wahyuni via kompas.com/-)
W
hile feeling nausea and vomiting are considered normal during pregnancy, what was experienced by two women in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, was different.
Their sickness was allegedly caused by expired medicine they received from a local community health center (puskesmas) and consumed.
The case first came to light when 21-year-old Novi Sri Wahyuni and her husband, through her lawyer Pius Situmorang, filed a report to Penjaringan Police. The accused the Puskesmas Kamal Muara of violating consumer protection laws.
Their complaint dates back to Aug. 13 when Novi was given a few kinds of medicine and vitamin B6 pills after a pregnancy health checkup at the Puskesmas Muara Kamal.
Pius, based on his client’s accounts, said after taking the drugs twice, Novi began to feel headache, stomachache and nausea and was vomiting more severely than she usually did during the pregnancy.
When she checked the packaging of the medicines she had consumed, she realized that the vitamins had expired.
“Novi had returned to the puskesmas, saying that she felt aches all over her body. The puskesmas officer then admitted that they had given her expired drugs,” Pius said on Aug. 16, kompas.com reports.
