Second counterfeit medicine discovered in UK
Pharmacists who discover they have unwittingly dispensed counterfeit Reductil should contact patients to alert them to check their medicines, according to official advice from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
The advice follows confirmation from the Medicines and Healthcare products
Regulatory Authority that fake
Reductil (sibutramine) found its way into
the official medicines supply chain last week.
The counterfeit packs look similar to the authentic product manufactured
by Abbott Laboratories Ltd, but the key difference is in batch numbers.
Genuine Reductil has a numeric batch number with a one-letter alphabetic
suffix. The batch reference on supplies of counterfeit Reductil contains
only numbers.
Pharmacists in either community or hospital are advised to contact the
MHRA if they suspect any counterfeit Reductil has found its way into
their dispensaries. And if they are worried about the authenticity of
any other medications they should contact their local Society inspector
or the MHRA for advice.
The Society’s director of practice and quality improvement David
Pruce said: “As far as pharmacists are concerned they just need
to be aware of counterfeit drugs as an issue and have a slightly higher
degree of suspicion such as if there is something [wrong] with the packaging
or if a batch number doesn’t look right.”
The counterfeit drug was spotted by a wholesaler last week after it became
suspicious of the batch number and contacted the MHRA.
It is the second case of counterfeit drugs in the UK’s legitimate
drugs supply chain in 10 days. The first case involved counterfeit supplies
of the drug Cialis (tadalafil) (PJ, 28 August, p277).
The MHRA was unable to say when its two investigations into the matter
would be completed.
The counterfeit drugs which are being recalled by the MRHA are Reductil
15 mg capsules batch number 65542 and Cialis 20mg tablets lot numbers
A031410 expiry date 06/2006 and A041410 expiry date unknown.
News feature, p341
Advice from the Society, p361 |
The
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