Drug maker ordered to recall all 434 products
The health authorities last night ordered local drug manufacturer Quality Pharmaceutical Laboratory to recall all its 434 products from the market, after tests found many of them to be substandard.
The defects indicated that there were likely to be deficiencies during the manufacturing processes and there could be health consequences, the Department of Health said.
The recall follows three unsatisfactory tests in less than three weeks.
The latest batch, released last night, involved four products found to contain ingredients of a content lower than registered. They include a vitamin tablet sold over the counter, and Qualit-mentin tablets, antibiotics used in antibacterial agents and available on prescription and under pharmacists' supervision.
Since the first recall on April 20, the manufacturer has suspended distribution, while the department investigated. As part of the investigation, some 90 products have been sampled for laboratory analysis.
With the testing almost done, 13 products with defects have been found. Nine products failed a disintegration-time test, resulting in two recalls, on April 20 and 26.
A department spokesman said: 'although all these laboratory findings pointed to quality defects, there could be therapeutic consequences'.
Health care professionals and retailers have been urged to stop supplying the maker's products.
The department separately ordered a recall from shelves, hospitals and doctors, of a registered rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq. The decision followed an announcement by the United States Food and Drug Administration on Thursday saying fragments of DNA had been found.
