Medicine mix-up leads to children developing 'werewolf syndrome'

A rare condition afflicted at least 20 kids in Spain, who developed a so-called “werewolf syndrome” after being given the wrong medicine.

The children were supposed to receive omeprazole, a common anti-reflux medicine, and instead got a medicated syrup trained with minoxidil, a remedy against alopecia (hair loss). This caused the kids to develop hypertrichosis – a condition characterized by excessive hair growth on a person’s face and body.

People affected by hypertrichosis often develop thick hair growing from the parts of the body that usually have just fine fuzz. This was obviously a big shock to the Spanish parents.

“My son’s forehead, cheeks, arms and legs, hands became covered in hair,” mother Ángela Selles shared with the Spanish daily newspaper, El País.

The hand of a baby afflicted by the syndrome in Spain.

Image source: El Pais

The error took place in pharmacies in Granada, Cantabria, and Valencia. Upset parents have accused the authorities of not doing enough to provide information.

Another mother, Amaia, whose child was afflicted after taking a high dose of the syrup, said to Spain’s Antena 3 television station: “We have been told nothing. I am furious, scared and feel misunderstood and a complete lack of empathy.”

The Spanish pharmaceutical manufacturer Farma-Química Sur, which imported the medicine from India, has since had its license temporarily suspended and is facing lawsuits. The affected batches have been recalled by the authorities, who did issue a warning to be on the lookout for such conditions developing from children’s omeprazole.

Lalit Patidar, an Indian schoolboy, who suffers from the “Werewolf Syndrome,” pictured with his sisters on January 25, 2019 in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Credit: Shams Qari / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images.

Health officials think that the hair on those who developed the condition from the wrong medicine will eventually fall out. But there is potential for organ damage as blood vessels could become widened by minoxidil.

Overall, while it can be partially treated, hypertrichosis is not well-understood, and in very rare cases, can be congenital, passed down through generations.

There have also been other instances of medicines causing hypertrichosis, including anti-convulsants and corticosteroids, as found a 2015 study.