German manufacturer's products contaminated with midazolam.

By now, many people are aware of the story of the German Company B. Braun proudly delivering a large quantity of midazolam to Bergamo in Spring 2020:

Midazolam usage in Italy in spring 2020.

There are some peculiarities around the company’s press release related to this event:

• The earliest date wayback machine can find for the English version is 16 May 2022

• The earliest date wayback machine can find for the German version is 7 Dec 2022

We are unsure what to make of this - or if there’s any significance - but in light of our suspicions about the spring 2020 death events in Lombardy - and more specifically, Bergamo - we think it’s important to know when, exactly, the press release was first published. Jessica reached out to the B Braun media department several months ago with an inquiry as to publication date but did not receive a response.

The content of the release implies publication around the time the shipment took place. If, in fact, it was first posted in 2022, it raises questions about why and what or whose purposes it served

But there is another B. Braun-Midazolam oddity.

H/t to

Joel Smalley

who writes Dead Man Talking for spotting this.

If you search “B Braun Midazolam Recall MHRA” you can find this press release dated 31 July 2023:

As the release states, a very wide variety of products were affected:

This is the description of the problem given:

B. Braun Medical Limited is recalling the specific product batches as a precautionary measure after traces of midazolam were detected in the batches listed in this notification. The listed product batches were manufactured following the manufacture of midazolam solution for infusion at the manufacturing facility and therefore some batches were detected to be contaminated with traces of midazolam above the Permitted Daily Exposure (PDE).

Based on the analysis, all batches with a confirmed contamination above the safety threshold are included in this notification. Additionally, for solutions that could not be analysed, due to the lack of a reliable method, the batches are also being recalled as a precautionary measure, based on the theoretical risk of midazolam exceeding the safety threshold.

A toxicological assessment has been completed to evaluate the potential risk for patients. The assessment concluded that the highest detected levels of midazolam are deemed to display no clinical effects. Nevertheless, although at low risk, allergic reactions to Midazolam cannot be excluded. B. Braun Medical Limited has not received any reports of suspected adverse drug reactions for the affected batches.

We actually don’t understand what has been going on here. It is hard to believe that any products could become contaminated in this way in a company with any proper manufacturing control system, let alone such a wide range.

B. Braun is not particularly well-known in the UK. However, it is a huge family-owned company with 63, 000 employees and annual sales (in 2023) of 8.8 Billion Euros.