Parents take to social media on child's dangerous experience at Clicks

If your child took a harmful product off a shelf in a store and ingested it‚ who is liable?

This is the raging debate on Facebook after parents of a four-year old boy‚ who ingested potassium permanganate crystals last year‚ took to the social network on Sunday night to force Clicks Pharmacy to move the product to a higher shelf and introduce child-proof packaging.

In her post on Facebook‚ Megan Petty explained that she and her husband were conflicted over sharing their story but decided it was the "right thing to do". They didn't name the healthcare chain‚ but posted a picture of the medication‚ which is an inhouse brand‚ thereby identifying them.

She explained that her son Brody was walking alongside her in the baby aisle in Clicks at Cedar Square Shopping Centre when he took a bottle of the antiseptic off the shelf‚ opened the pop top lid with his mouth and ingested it.

"Without getting into too much of the detail‚ we nearly lost our son between landing in the ER of Fourways Life hospital and the numerous trips to the operating theatre to have the damage assessed via scope‚ ventilators fitted‚ feeding tubes fitted.

"Brody's injuries included severe burning to the oesophagus‚ throat‚ airways and stomach lining that were some of the worst injuries seen by our attending doctors for this specific substance - who‚ by the way‚ were nothing short of amazing throughout the nearly two-week stay in paediatric ICU and high care."

Brody has fully recovered and is a "healthy and active nearly four-year-old boy".

In her post‚ Petty said Clicks flatly denied any wrongdoing and pointed out the liability disclaimer at the front door of each store.

"I can also confirm‚ that to add to the total disregard for the safety of their customers - the product has not been moved to a more appropriate container or location in any of the stores in the greater Johannesburg area‚ that we have been into."

They had tried to sue Clicks but their lawyers warned that it would be a long drawn-out process with an organisation that had access to far larger funds than they had.

They shared their story on Facebook in the hopes that any reactions from the people closest to us" would prompt Clicks to take action.

However‚ reaction was mixed‚ with some blaming the parents for not keeping a closer eye on the child while shopping.

Clicks chief operating officer Vikesh Ramsunder said consumer safety was a priority to the company.

"As a retailer we sell a large number of products that could be harmful if consumed inappropriately. This includes items such as household detergents.

"We employ packaging and product technologists to ensure the safety of our products and their compliance to legislative requirements. Tamper proof lids and or seals are on our products‚ including the potassium permanganate."

He said the pharmacy team who had provided first aid in store and helped get Brody to the hospital for emergency treatment were pleased to hear that the boy had fully recovered.