Another medicine recalled from Ghaziabad govt hospital after failing quality test

Hukum Singh Rana, the chief pharmacist of the government’s drug warehouse in Ghaziabad, said at least 3,000 tablets of the medicine were supplied to MMG hospital and 20,000 have been supplied since last year

Weeks after two medicines were recalled from the government hospital at Sanjay Nagar after failing quality tests, another medicine has been recalled from the MMG District Hospital.

At MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad on Thursday. (Sakuib Ali/HT Photo)

The test report for this medicine by the central drugs standard control organisation in December found that it was “not of standard quality”, said officials.

“The medicine is used in heart ailments. Its purpose is to thin blood. With test reports showing that it is not of standard quality, we have stopped giving it to patients and the remaining stock is being sent back to the government’s drug warehouse,” said Dr Manoj Chaturvedi, chief medical superintendent of the MMG district hospital.

Hukum Singh Rana, the chief pharmacist of the government’s drug warehouse in Ghaziabad, said at least 3,000 tablets of the medicine were supplied to MMG hospital and 20,000 have been supplied since last year. Of this, only 1,800 were left at the hospital’s drug store, said officials aware of the matter.

The medicines already supplied to patients will not be effective in their treatment, Rana added.

“The samples we stock are received directly from companies after clearances from the state headquarters. Their samples are regularly tested for quality. Once we get approval, the stock is supplied to government healthcare centres,” Rana said. The warehouse stocks at least 280 different medicines, said officials.

In case of sub-standard medicines, the drug inspectors at the headquarters generally initiate a case against the erring firms, Rane added.

Earlier in December, two medicines, one for blood pressure while the other for vomiting symptoms, were recalled after samples collected from the other Sanjay Nagar combined district hospital turned out to be “not of standard quality”, according to test reports.

“If there are regular issues in some medicines, it will indicate that there is lapse somewhere in the procedure, especially pertaining to quality and standards. Such medicines, if supplied to patients, may not give proper results and in some case may also lead to health complications. So, a thorough check and probe is needed why some medicines fail quality tests,” said a senior officer of the Uttar Pradesh health department, who asked not to be named.

District health officials recalled a similar case about a medicine used to treat flatulence at a community health centre at Muradnagar two months ago.

“It is a regular protocol that in case any medicine is of sub-standard quality, it is immediately communicated to the state officials, who will initiate action against the concerned firm. In the present case, the hospital has written to state officials. Now, supply of this medicine to patients has been stopped by government authorities,” said Dr Bhvatosh Shankhdhar, Ghaziabad’s chief medical officer.

He said that in many such cases, the quantity of the drug component is found to be of lower quantity than the prescribed one.