Amina and her younger brother went to the chemist near where we live in Dala council area. She told the chemist what was wrong with her. I later learned that it was the chemist’s son who was on duty that day. The boy is about 19 years old.”
According to her, later in the evening of that day, Amina took the drug (septrin) and within an hour, her lips and tongue got swollen and her eyes became red.Mrs. Ibrahim, who spoke through a female interpreter, added that the boy prescribed an antibiotic, Septrin, to Amina, claiming that it would relieve her of her discomfort.
“The pain was unbearable for her. We did not know what to do. I had to check the expiry date on the drug sachet to be sure it had not expired. But I could not find any date, ’’ she stated wiping tears with her palms.
She further said Amina returned to the chemist the next day to complain of her reaction to the drug.
‘‘I followed her to the chemist and we met him in his shop. He said Amina was developing symptoms of chicken pox and that she would need to be placed on injection and other drugs to fight the ailment. We heeded his advice, believing he was an expert in health matters,” her mother said.
She told our correspondent that the chemist gave her daughter a combination of drugs which included paracetamol, ciproxin, puriton, ciprotob and blood tonic to treat the chicken pox which he claimed Amina had.
“Immediately she completed her injection doses, things got out of hand. My beautiful daughter changed into someone I could not recognise. Her face turned black as if she got burnt. Her health also deteriorated daily,” she said.
Throughout his narration, Amina’s father, was lost in thought. Once in a while, a solitary teardrop would travel from one of his eyes, down his face and on to his cheeks. He did not wipe these tears. He just stared into space.
“I do not know what to say, I do not even know what to think. I cannot believe my baby is gone. What pains me most is that her death could have been avoided. Every day, throughout the period Amina was being treated, we hoped she would be fine and we would all go home together someday. I just did not know if my family would be able to recover from this,” he said softly.
When asked if they had reported the chemist to the police, he said, “We can’t find him again.”
Research done by clinical pharmacists has shown that self-prescription is one of the commonest forms of drug abuse in the country.
