PRESS ASSOCIATION -- A man has been arrested by police investigating how packs of Nurofen Plus were found to contain anti-psychotic and anti-epileptic drugs, Scotland Yard said.
The 30-year-old is from Bromley in south London. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed he had been arrested on suspicion of contamination of goods, and was being questioned at a south London police station.
Reckitt Benckiser, the drug's manufacturer, recalled the product on August 26 and halted distribution after discovering five boxes contained other companies' medicines. It estimated some 250,000 packets were still in customers' hands.
Scotland Yard's specialist crime directorate, which tackles serious and organised crime, launched a probe after four boxes were found to contain the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel XL 50mg and one packet contained Pfizer's anti-epileptic medication, Neurontin, in 100mg capsules.
Examinations are covering the entire production chain in a bid to identify how some packs of Nurofen Plus came to contain strips of the potentially harmful drugs.
Seroquel XL is a prescription-only anti-psychotic drug used to treat several disorders including schizophrenia, mania and bipolar depression. People who accidentally take the drug may experience sleepiness and are advised not to drive or operate any tools or machinery until they know how the tablets have affected them.
Neurontin, used to treat epilepsy and long-lasting pain caused by damage to the nerves, can also result in drowsiness and lack of co-ordination.
Common side-effects of the prescription-only drugs, which may be seen in more than one person in 100, include pneumonia, depression, loss of vision, breathing difficulties and nausea.
Nurofen Plus is for pain relief and contains codeine. The affected packs all contain 32 tablets.
The large capsules of Seroquel XL 50mg tablets have gold and black packaging while Neurontin, which comes in a two-piece, white capsule, is stored in white and silver blister packs. Nurofen Plus capsules have silver and black packaging.