The parents of a premature baby were outraged to discover they had given their son the wrong medication after the hospital sent him home with someone else's epilepsy medicine.
Tiny 5-month-old Marvin Karim, from Putney, was born at Kingston Hospital, weighing just 600 grams.
He was transferred to St George’s Hospital for abdominal surgery and was suspected to be suffering sepsis.
After his rocky start, and time in the intensive care unit, he was allowed to go home to his family on August 4 with a temporary colostomy bag.
However, almost seven weeks later, on Sunday, September 21, his mum Dalya Mussa, 25, and father Mohamed Karim, 42, noticed one of the medicine bottles had a different person's name on it.
Mr Karim, who works in a dry cleaners, said: "We realised they had given him somebody else’s medication.
"We have been giving him this for god knows how long. I said to my wife stop giving it to him right now. It has a different person on it, but they might have put the label on it by mistake."
Father Mr Karim was devasted when he realised it was the wrong medication
They alerted Marvin’s GP who was shocked and said the medicine was for people who suffer with epilepsy.
Mr Karim added: "The GP said it was outrageous. He said you must stop this medication straight away - there might be side effects that damage his organs.
"It is really really terrible. We had a horrible nightmare.
"On Thursday they came to take a blood test. They saw they had made a mistake and took the situation more seriously.
"The blood test showed there is no organ damage but I worry about the mental situation. He’s unusual when sleeping.
"The medication can be toxic if it’s not for the right person - it can cause damage. He’s already really fragile.
"I want to tell other people to be really careful. We have put in a formal complaint."
A spokeswoman for St George’s Hospital said: "Marvin was sent home with all of the medication he required, but it appears that there was an additional incorrect bottle he did not need.
"Once alerted to this addition, the trust sent a letter to Marvin’s parents to offer an apology and reassurance that this additional medication carried no serious side effects."
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