BERLIN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- After the death of a 28-year-old mother and her unborn child, German authorities closed three pharmacies in the western city of Cologne on Thursday.
"Since it is not possible to completely rule out the possibility of other customers being endangered by medicines supplied by the pharmacy", it was necessary to "temporarily close down" the entire pharmacy chain, the Cologne district government announced.
According to German police, the mother and her unborn child both died due to multiple organ failure after having bought medicine in one of the closed pharmacies last week.
An analysis of the drugs bought at the pharmacy had revealed that the medicine was contaminated with toxic elements, police said.
The responsible police department revealed on Tuesday that a second woman was now being observed in hospital after claiming serious health problems. The woman would have stopped the intake of the medication because she became aware of health problems.
The drug which the women took was part of a standard medical process, financed by German health insurances, to test for gestational diabetes which can develop during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth.
Although it was possible to purchase pre-filled containers of the drug in German pharmacies, it was common that pharmacists bottle the medicine at the store.
According to Ulrich Bremer of the public prosecutor's office, a murder investigation had been launched to clarify whether the offence was intentional. The toxic element found in the drug was not a part of the product and had to be added after production.
Police revealed that a gynecologist had already informed authorities about health problems of his patients after the intake of the drug last Thursday. Although the precise number of people affected was not clear at the moment, there were no hints of a nationwide contamination of the drug.
