In January 2015, a four-year-old child died in Kritzendorf (Lower Austria) after taking a prescription cough syrup that was permitted from the age of three. The shock among the family, especially the twin sister of the deceased, is deep. A years-long legal dispute with the pharmaceutical company and the manufacturer followed. The defendants did not shy away from going to the Supreme Court. Who has now made a decision.
On the night of January 22, 2015, the incredible tragedy occurred in Kritzendorf. The twins of a family living there were sick and coughing. Cara (name changed) had a particularly bad time. Her mother gave the four-year-old girls the cough syrup ‘Codipertussin’, which the doctor had previously prescribed. Cara fell asleep in her mother’s arms the night before. But she didn’t wake up again. As the autopsy showed, she died from taking the cough syrup containing codeine.
Instructions for use downplay risks
In August 2016, the single mother first filed suit against the pharmaceutical company and manufacturer. This involved grief compensation, including for Cara’s twin sister and half-siblings, but also funeral costs, therapy costs and loss of income worth a total of around 100,000 euros. The first court awarded the survivors damages for ‘shock damage’ with medical value and additional costs.
The instructions for use gave a completely wrong impression about the already known dangers of the cough syrup and did not indicate the possible fatal effects. At the time, the drug was approved for children aged three years and older. According to Franz Kienesberger, the mother’s lawyer, it has now been taken off the market.
The pharmaceutical company took advantage of all legal remedies
But the pharmaceutical company refused and pursued all possible legal remedies to challenge the decision. The reason: “Codipertussin” was approved as a medicine at the time and the approval also related to the content of the instructions for use. Even if the drug was administered in an overdose, the appeals court ruled that the instructions for use did not indicate that an overdose could potentially be fatal.
The case went all the way to the Supreme Court (OGH), which now, nine and a half years after the tragedy, ruled in favor of the mother and siblings. The defendant’s appeal was not granted. The information that a cough syrup can have a fatal effect on children should have been “explicit and understandable” in the instructions for use.
Great sadness for the relatives
According to lawyer Kienesberger, this is little comfort for the mother: “When she looks at her daughter, she always thinks of her twin sister” – who was only allowed to live for four years thanks to a cough syrup.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
