Miss B and Mr G complained that their GP practice wrongly diagnosed constipation in their young son, L. They said the GP prescribed an unlicensed medication for L, which a paediatrician later told them should not have been prescribed because of its high salt content.
What happened
Miss B made a GP appointment for her son, L, because she was concerned he had not opened his bowels for several hours. Her son was three weeks old at the time. The GP prescribed paediatric Movicol, a laxative, and Miss B administered it as recommended.
The next day, L developed a rash and Miss B took him to an urgent care centre at a nearby hospital. L was seen by a paediatrician who said it was normal for very young babies not to open their bowels for up to several days. Miss B told us the paediatrician also said L should not have been given Movicol because its high salt content could have been dangerous for him. The experience was very distressing and worrying for Miss B and Mr G.
What we found
We did not uphold this complaint. Although we found failings by the GP practice, it had accepted and taken appropriate steps to address them.
There is nothing in the British National Formulary for Children (a reference guide used by doctors across the NHS when prescribing medication for children) to prevent Movicol being prescribed to a baby of L's age. It is an unlicensed medication but it may still be prescribed. Many medicines are unlicensed for use in children because the research carried out to establish whether medicines are safe rarely includes children. This does not mean the medication is unsafe. However, the GP should have told Miss B that he was prescribing a medication that was unlicensed and explained why. He did not do so and this was a failing.
It was unlikely that L had constipation, because he did not have the symptoms as listed in the national guidance on diagnosing constipation in children.
A GP practice
Kent
Did not apologise properly or do enough to put things right