LAHORE: The Punjab government has banned the production and sale of five “toxic” cough syrups as the World Health Organisation (WHO) alerted on the same in the second major drug-related scandal in the province within just two-month time.
The banned cough syrups were manufactured by a Lahore-based pharmaceutical company Pharmix Laboratories (Pvt) Ltd. The syrups Mucorid, Ulcofin, Alergo, Emidone Suspension and Zincell were found to contain high alcohol levels.
Complaints from the Maldives prompted the WHO for an investigation as these syrups had also been exported to other countries in the region. The Punjab government has ordered health authorities to immediately dispatch teams, seize the entire stocks of the drugs in question from the markets, and initiate proceedings against the manufacturing company.
In September, a similar incident happened where an adulterated injectable drug compromised the vision of over 80 eye patients in Punjab, exposing significant flaws in the health authorities’ oversight of drug manufacturing. The said incident also exposed the distribution process as the firm was supplying medicines on motorbikes within Lahore city and on passenger buses in the rest of the province.
On the recommendation by Drap, the Punjab government has stopped the sale of these five syrups in the province and also decided to seal the manufacturing factory, according to Punjab government. Drap has issued a recall for specific batches of these cough syrups due to suspected contamination with harmful substances like diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG).
According to the report, the WHO has also found the presence of DEG and EG impurities in Batch No. B220 of Alergo syrup, dispatched to the Maldives and manufactured by Pharmix Laboratories (Pvt) Ltd. A preliminary DRAP investigation suspected these impurities might also be present in other batches and products.
“This recall is a precautionary measure taken to safeguard public health against the potential harmful effects of these impurities,” said the report.
DRAP has also advised consumers to stop using the product bearing the affected batch numbers and contact their physicians or healthcare providers if they have experienced any problems after taking the drugs in question.
