A government decision to continue using Europharm-made medicines drew mixed reactions among patients in public hospitals yesterday.
Some said the Hospital Authority should suspend supplies from the Tai Po-based pharmacist until all its drugs had been checked. Others regarded the contamination of the company's gout medicine as an isolated case and showed few worries about its other drugs. The authority has said it will stop prescribing Europharm's medicines if there are other options.
Gout patient Li Kam-wing, 50, visited Prince of Wales Hospital to swap tainted 100mg allopurinol tablets for a safer replacement under a measure launched on Sunday. Mr Li, who had taken the drug for a few years, said he had never experienced any problems.
'However, so far there's been no clear answer from either the authority or the pharmacist on whether other [Europharm-made] drugs are affected,' he said. 'It's better to have a thorough check first, which is the only way to restore the public's confidence.'
Also showing concern was a Ms Lau, who took her daughter, four, to see a doctor at the hospital. 'I still have some anti-phlegm lotion produced by Europharm at home. I have no idea how to deal with it. My daughter used it a few months ago when she had a fever. We didn't find any problem. But I do hope the government can release the test results as soon as possible.'
Retired civil servant Chan Kwong-fai urged officials to step up scrutiny of drug production. 'I heard the drug-maker responsible is a major one in the city ... The government and the pharmacist are supposed to carry out a full check on all its production chains before resuming hospital supplies.'