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DH endorses batch recall of eye drops (with photo)
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     The Department of Health (DH) today (August 19) endorsed a licensed drug wholesaler, Ashford Pharmaceuticals Limited, to recall from consumers a batch of eye drops labelled as Optomycin Eye Drops 0.5% (registration number: HK-49683) on the outer box with the batch number SL1515 due to a packaging error.

     The DH was notified by Ashford of a complaint from its client that some boxes of the above pharmaceutical product had been found to contain another registered eye drops product called Optomycin-D Eye Drops (HK-49650). Preliminary investigations revealed that batch SL1515 is a unique batch number of Optomycin-D Eye Drops. However, some outer boxes intended for Optomycin Eye Drops 0.5% were wrongly printed with that batch number of Optomycin-D Eye Drops and packed with Optomycin-D Eye Drops. The bottles of these eye drops were correctly labelled as Optomycin-D Eye Drops.

     "So far, no evidence has indicated that other batches of the two eye drops were affected. We have instructed Ashford to provide a detailed investigation report as soon as possible," a spokesman for the DH said.

     Optomycin Eye Drops 0.5%, containing chloramphenicol, is indicated for eye infections, while Optomycin-D Eye Drops contains a steroid, dexamethasone, apart from chloramphenicol. According to Ashford, the affected batch may have been supplied to the Hospital Authority, private hospitals, private doctors and local pharmacies.

     Ashford has set up a hotline (2976 9949) for related enquiries. The DH will closely monitor the recall.

     "Members of the public using the two eye drops products should take extra caution to check if the bottle label of the eye drops matches with the box label and the prescriber's label. They should consult healthcare providers if in doubt," the spokesman advised.
 
Ends/Friday, August 19, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:45
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The Department of Health today (August 19) endorsed a batch recall of eye drops labelled as Optomycin Eye Drops 0.5% on the outer box with the batch number SL1515, as some boxes for Optomycin Eye Drops 0.5% were wrongly printed with a batch number of another registered eye drops product called Optomycin-D Eye Drops and packed with Optomycin-D Eye Drops.