Man arrested over tampered Nurofen

A MAN has been arrested by police investigating how packs of Nurofen Plus were found to contain anti-psychotic and anti-epileptic drugs, Scotland Yard said.

A spokesman yesterday confirmed that a 30-year-old from Bromley, in south London, had been arrested on suspicion of contamination of goods and was being questioned at a south London police station.

Reckitt Benckiser, the drug’s manufacturer, recalled the product on 26 August and halted distribution after discovering five boxes contained other companies’ medicines.

It estimated that some 250,000 packets were still in customers’ hands.

Scotland Yard’s specialist crime directorate, which tackles serious and organised crime, launched an investigation after four boxes were found to contain the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel XL 50mg and one packet contained Pfizer’s anti-epileptic medication Neurontin in 100mg capsules.

Examinations are covering the entire production chain in an attempt to identify how some packs of Nurofen Plus came to contain strips of the potentially harmful drugs.

Seroquel XL is a prescription-only anti-psychotic drug used to treat several disorders including schizophrenia, mania and bipolar depression.