Cure that killed 100 pets is taken from the shelves

Daily Mail 1998

AN ANTI-FLEA treatment which killed almost 100 pet cats and dogs was withdrawn from sale in Britain yesterday.

Virbac, the maker of Droplix, said it was temporarily suspending sales of the product.

The move came after more than 200 people contacted the firm to say their pets had either died or suffered serious side effects after being given the drug.

Dangers surrounding Droplix, which contains chemicals similar to those used during the Gulf War, were first revealed by BBC I’s Watchdog in January.

The programme told how 23 cats and one dog had died as a result of a "bad batch" of the drug, which is prescribed by vets and applied to the backs of animals’ necks. Since then Virbac has been contacted by another 87 owners who said their pets had died after being given Droplix. A further 117 wrote to complain that their animals had become ill following treatment.

Yesterday, Virbac managing director John Christmas said: "Quite understandably, pet owners have been concerned about using Droplix since a small number of batches were found to cause an extra adverse reaction.

"To dispel any remaining fears among pet owners, Virbac Is temporarily suspending the sale of Droplix in the UK immediately."

An estimated 20,000 customers bought bottles of the faulty treatment. Virbac was first alerted to the danger last May when two cats died. It did not notify customers until December.