Withdrawal of eye drops on sale for 15 years gets hotline buzzing

Seventy people called a Health Department hotline yesterday after it ordered a recall of a popular brand of eye drops that is not registered for sale in the city.

The Viscotears eye drops, made in Germany by drugs giant Novartis, went on sale in Hong Kong 15 years ago. The drops did not need registering since they did not contain western medicine. However, Novartis reformulated the drops four years ago and added western medicine, and the department told the company it needed to register the product.

On Saturday the department ordered the importer, Zuellig Pharma, to recall Viscotears from pharmacies, clinics and hospitals after staff at United Christian Hospital discovered the product was not registered. The department did not explain why Novartis' failure to register the drops had not been picked up sooner.

The Hospital Authority said Viscotears had been distributed to 17 public hospitals, and about 10,000 bottles of the eye drops would be recalled. The authority and the department assured the public the product is safe to use.

The drops, which are prescribed for dry eyes, are registered for sale in European countries.

It is a criminal offence to sell unregistered drugs in Hong Kong, subject to a maximum fine of HK$100,000 and up to two years' imprisonment.