The Irish Medicines Board has warned that a range of products sold by a Limerick firm to treat skin conditions in children, including babies, contains steroids and is unlicensed.
The corticosteroids in the products could have serious side-effects if used inappropriately or for long periods.
The drugs are marketed by Cherryfield Herbal Co at Ballysimon Road, Limerick, and have been sold through "clinics" in hotels and by mail order.
The person most closely identified with the company is Donal (Donie) Raymond Walsh (59), who is facing charges in the UK arising out of the sale of the drug there.
The Irish Medicines Board yesterday placed an advertisement in the Irish Medical Times warning healthcare professionals that the drugs were being marketed without authorisation.
The drugs are Cherrydex Cream, Practagel, Psorst, Eczema 1 and Eczema 2. The best-known appears to be Cherrydex Cream which is sold at £30 per tub. An instruction says users should "apply all over the body six times daily". The tub describes the contents as "a herbal cream for sensitive and dry skin" and lists the ingredients as paraffin, wax, alcohol and plant extracts.
Customers say Mr Walsh's clinics were well-attended and that many were parents seeking treatment for children with eczema. There is evidence that eczema among children has risen fivefold in recent years. Eczema is a term used to describe inflammation of the skin which leads to dryness, redness and cracking. The Irish Medicines Board said yesterday its investigation was continuing. The board can initiate prosecutions for breaches of the law concerning the sale of medicines.
Mr Walsh also marketed his products in Britain and is facing charges there for alleged breaches of regulations concerning Cherrydex Cream and for allegedly obtaining money by deception.
His case was this week adjourned for the ninth time after he failed to appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court. His lawyers told the court he was unwell, and that he had ceased all his business activities.
It is unclear whether Mr Walsh's products are being marketed in Ireland at the moment as he would not comment when contacted yesterday.
A Clonmel, Co Tipperary, woman says she continued to buy Cherrydex Cream by mail order until shortly before she saw a Streetwise documentary on Mr Walsh's activities on RTE on June 22nd.
A Killarney woman, Mrs Deborah Ann O'Shea, said she had brought her two-and-a-half-month-old daughter to one of Mr Walsh's clinics in Cork late last year because of her eczema.
Mr Walsh, who did not examine or touch the baby, told her "I have something for that" and sold her six jars of cream at £30 a jar "and £10 for himself".
The cream cleared up the baby's eczema in a couple of days, but after a couple of months it no longer worked as well, though it continued to keep it under control part of the time. In December they brought the child to a specialist who said he suspected the product contained steroids. When they took the baby off Cherrydex her face and eyes swelled up. Her body was covered by a rash and she ate and slept very little for three weeks. Mrs O'Shea estimates she spent about £1,000 on Mr Walsh's products.
A Clonmel woman attended one of Mr Walsh's clinics to get help for her teenage daughter's eczema. She spent something approaching £3,000 for Cherrydex Cream and drops. When she queried why she was having to spend more and more on the drugs every month - amounting to £390 on one occasion - Mr Walsh said it was because of the child's asthma. The woman says her daughter never had asthma and, through a solicitor, she eventually got a refund of £878.
She says her daughter's condition is now "diabolical" and that she is reluctant to go out because of the rash on her face.