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A spokesman for the Department of Health (DH) today (March 20) said follow up enquiries into the suspected malpractice of Unipharm Trading Company, a local drug importer, revealed that the expiry dates shown on the label of two batches of a pain killer were false.
The spokesman said the product, Cosalgesic, was imported by Unipharm from the United Kingdom (UK).
The DH contacted the drug manufacturer in the UK and was informed that the expiry dates of the two batches of Cosalgesic (batch no. CX 3751 and CX 3754) imported by Unipharm were May 2009 and June 2009 respectively. But the expiry dates printed on these two batches of drugs found in Unipharm were June 2010.
The case will be referred to the Police for further investigations.
The spokesman said the drug could only be sold under a pharmacist's supervision in the local market.
Unipharm has initiated a recall exercise which was approved by the DH. People who possess Cosalgesic in these two batches are advised to contact Unipharm through its hotline 2499 1373 for arrangement of recall.
The DH has also set up a hotline 2319 2905 for enquiries. The hotline will operate from 9am to 5pm tomorrow (March 21).
According to the Pharmaceutical Products Recall Guidelines, the company is required to submit progress and final reports to the DH for monitoring purposes.
The spokesman said that as the actual expiry dates of the products in question were in May and June this year, there was no immediate safety, efficacy or quality concern for the time being for people who had taken the products.
"However, people should stop using these two batches of Cosalgesic and seek advice from doctors, dentists or pharmacists as appropriate on the use of alternative drugs," the spokesman said.
The DH will closely monitor the recall exercise to ensure that all the necessary steps are effectively and efficiently adhered to.
The spokesman said DH staff had inspected Unipharm and screened all its 66 imported pharmaceutical products and another 17 batches of Cosalgesic found in the company. Investigation indicated there was no evidence of tampering with expiry dates printed on the labels of these products.
Meanwhile, laboratory analysis of samples of Amitriptyline (a drug for depression) which were imported and packed by Unipharm has so far indicated no microbiological contamination.
The DH's investigation is on going.
Ends/Friday, March 20, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:18
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