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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (March 17) that hospital and clinic staff had started to contact patients who were prescribed unregistered Metformin tablets manufactured by Christo Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Arrangements will be made at Queen Mary Hospital or the clinics concerned for patients who want to have their drugs replaced.
A spokesman for the HA said among the 25,000 unregistered tablets, around 17,000 have been dispensed to 308 patients under the Specialist Outpatient Clinic of Queen Mary Hospital and two general outpatient clinics (Aberdeen Jockey Club Clinic and Ap Lei Chau Clinic) in Hong Kong West Cluster.
"The hospital and clinic staff started to call the patients concerned today to explain the background of the unregistered Metformin incident as well as the quality and safety of the drug concerned. Arrangements will be made for patients, who prefer not to take the unregistered drug after explanation, to return their drug for full replacement," the spokesman said.
As at 5pm today, 304 patients have been contacted and eight patients have returned their drugs for replacement.
Furthermore, the HA will continue to follow up on its reporting of the incident to the Police and Department of Health last night.
Ends/Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:40
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