Hong Kong health authorities probe digestion drug after cancer patient’s medication found to be contaminated with mould
Discovery of Monascus mould on Indonesian-made Enzyplex tablets was ‘incidental’ finding when Queen Mary Hospital reviewed deceased woman’s case
Hong Kong’s Department of Health is investigating a drug used to aid digestion after the medication taken by a cancer patient was found to be contaminated with a type of mould.
The move follows the recent death of a lymphoma patient in her 30s at Queen Mary Hospital who had been taking Indonesian-made Enzyplex tablets for digestive disorders.
The Hospital Authority said on Thursday evening that the discovery of the Monascus mould on the tablet was an “incidental” finding when the hospital’s microbiology department reviewed the deceased woman’s case.
“The patient passed away recently due to her underlying disease,” an authority spokesman said.
Top microbiologist Professor Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong, who was involved in the review, said they decided to check all the oral medication taken by the patient, due to past incidents when contaminated drugs caused outbreaks of fungal infections. He said the patient’s stool also contained another kind of mould, Mucor.
