Kids sprouting hair like werewolves years after taking wrong medicine - New York Post

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It was a hair-raising mistake.

A group of children in Spain continues to sprout hair all over their bodies after they were accidentally administered a hair loss drug for their indigestion two years ago, Newsflash reported.

Health officials blame the hairy situation on a packaging mix-up by Spanish pharmaceutical giant Farma-Química Sur, which resulted in children in Cantabria mistakenly taking minoxidil — a topical treatment — in lieu of omeprazole, which is for gastric reflux.

As a result, a group of 20 children began suffering from hypertrichosis — also known as “werewolf syndrome” — in which the sufferer grows excess hair across their body, according to Healthline. One mother reported that her 10-month-old sported thick locks everywhere except his feet a mere two months after taking the minoxidil syrup, ABC reported.

Unfortunately, health officials weren’t alerted to the “Wolfman”-esque outbreak until July 2019, when the parents of the children went public. The furious families have since filed civil and criminal complaints against a laboratory and several companies for importing and distributing the drug as well as against two pharmacies in Cantabria which were later exonerated by the courts.

Despite the lawsuits, it reportedly took authorities two months to shutter the laboratory where the blunder occurred and recall the offending medication.

“Why does it take more than two months to test a medicine?” Amaia, a mother whose baby was afflicted, asked Spain’s Antena 3 television station at the time. “We have been told nothing. I am furious, scared and feel misunderstood and a complete lack of empathy.”

Two years later, the victims’ families claim that the toddlers continue to sprout hair despite treatment, and are demanding compensation. Unfortunately it’s unclear whether the symptoms can be remedied as the ailment’s naturally occurring form has no cure.

However, the afflicted can mitigate the cosmetic effects via shaving, waxing and laser hair removal.

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