Justice Palace building in Baabda (Credit: National News Agency/Photo Archives)
Juvenile Judge Joelle Abou Haidar has prohibited the pharmaceutical company Fresh Pharma International (SAL) from selling or distributing medications and nutritional supplements for children, citing the falsification of their expiration dates as a significant danger.
According to a judicial source, about 20 products are involved (see list below). Some expiration dates had been erased, while others were handwritten, contrary to the requirement — that they be printed or laser-inscribed.
On Wednesday, Haidar issued the prohibition along with a penalty of LL500 million (approximately $4,500 at the market rate) for each sale of a medication box made by the company with a pharmacy or sub-distributor in violation of the judicial measure. This penalty applies to Fresh Pharma and its co-distributors until investigations are completed by the appeals prosecutor's office and Mount Lebanon investigating judge, Hanna Braidy, who have been notified of the judgment. The investigations will focus on identifying the perpetrators of the fraud.
Copies of the decision have also been sent to caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad and the president of the Order of Pharmacists, Joe Salloum.
The same judicial source indicated that the affected products are distributed throughout the Lebanese market, across all districts or governorates.
Generally, the law does not require pharmacies and sub-distributors to check the expiration date inside medication boxes, provided they verify the date on the packaging. However, given that Judge Haidar has confirmed discrepancies between the dates, no party can now justify having bought or sold these products by claiming they checked the packaging, the source added.
In March of last year, Haidar had already prohibited the same pharmaceutical company from selling two types of vitamins for infants, Fresh Zinc and Fresh Multiplus, for the same reason of date-tampering. She later transferred the case to the Mount Lebanon Court of Appeal, where the company's director claimed to have sold the products several months before their expiration date. He has not been arrested as investigations are still ongoing.
Here is the list of the concerned medications:
Fresh D ; Fresh Fer ; Z Pro ; Fresh Complete ; Co Pro ; Fresh Multi ; Fresh Fluor ; Pharyndol BB ; Fresh Zinc ML ; Fresh D+DHA ; Transilax 15 ; Tips Haler ; Fresh Cream ; KC Allergy ; KC Cough ; KC Ear ; KC Gaz ; KC Relief ; KC Teeth ; Septospray ; HB100.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour
