My 3 week old baby has been prescribed some precautionary penicillin, as my toddler has a skin infection which could be nasty in a very young baby if passed on. Toddler is of course also on antibiotics and is no longer infectious.
When DH brought the baby's medicine back on Friday night, I saw that it was livid orange, and on reading the label it contained both E110 and E124 colourings. This is the first time I have come across this penicillin suspension, phenoxymethyl penicillin or penicillin V, but I gather it is a very common paediatric medicine.
E110 (sunset yellow, azo dye) is banned in Norway and Finland and is linked to asthma, urticaria, gastric upsets and hyperactivity. E124 (ponceau 4R, azo dye) is linked to asthma and hyperactivity and is considered carcinogenic. It is banned in several countries including the USA. The Foods Standards Agency have called for these dyes to be removed from foodstuffs. I called the pharmacy (Tesco) who had dispensed the medicine to ask if there was a version without colourings and was told that they did not have anything. The pharmacist seemed surprised that I was asking the question and told me to take up with the MHRA if I had a problem with it. I then called out of hours GP service, eventually getting to speak to a doctor. She said she understood my concern, and tried to find an alternative. However, she came back and said she couldn't find any version of this that didn't contain azo dyes. So she prescribed another antibiotic, which isn't considered 1st choice but didn't contain colourings. I was then left in the position of deciding whether to give an unweaned baby the colourings or the potentially less effective antbiotic.
I am a scientist by profession and certainly have no problem with giving medicine or any other intervention where the benefit outweighs the risk. If the issue was with the medicine itself, it would be entirely different. But I am at a complete loss as to why these ingredients are in a paediatric medicine. I can understand why flavourings are needed to make it more palatable, having had to get medicines down a toddler's throat. But what purpose does colouring serve? And why use these ones? In all the weaning advice we are told to avoid allergens under 6months and yet I am expected to give this to a newborn, in the context of us having a family history of asthma and food allergies (including myself, as certain food colourings used to make me vomit or give me headaches as a child).
I plan to write to the MHRA copying the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the royal college of GPs to ask why this situation is allowed, and to ask them to review the use of azo dyes in medicines, or at least require that alternatives without them are available.
Does this sound like a reasonable course of action? Do any wise mumsnetters have experience with this, or any of you who are drs or pharmacists have an opinion? I understand that the prescriber doesn't have any control over what suppliers put in a medicine, but do you know if it is a common problem?
Any advice appreciated.