HONG KONG: Batches of inaccurately labeled pharmaceutical products have been ordered off the shelves. The public has been advised to stop taking two batches of the painkiller, Cosalgesic. The drugs were marked with an expiry date one year later than the date revealed by laboratory data Thursday.

The drugs were imported from the United Kingdom by Unipharm Trading Company.

The Department of Health stopped short of declaring an outright ban at first since the drugs were still within their effective potency date.

The lab data showed that the two batches of Cosalgesic, designated CX3751 and CX3754, will remain effective until this May and June respectively. Labels on the products, however, indicated an expiry date in June 2010.

A spokesperson for the health department said the drugs have no immediate safety, efficacy or quality concerns for the time being.

"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 spokesperson added.

If you have products from the two mislabeled batches in your medicine cabinet, you can contact Unipharm at 2499-1373 for recall, or call the health department hotline at 2319-2905.

The matter of the mislabeled products has been turned over to the Police for further investigation.

The Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacy Limited (HKGCP) declared the health department asked drugstores and private pharmacists to stop selling the tablets.

"Our members need to recall Cosalgesic to Unipharm but actually we don't have much stock," said HKGCP's Chairman Lau Oi-kwok.

Unipharm also was cited for illegally packaging over a million doses of the anti-depressant drug Amitriptyline. Laboratory examination of the unlicensed product found no microbiological contamination.

Another 17 batches of Cosalgesic and 66 other pharmaceutical products imported by Unipharm were found to have correct expiry dates.

Repeated pharmaceutical blunders clustered over a short period of time have prompted the creation of a committee to review drug safety and industry conduct. Medical experts assert more frequent scrutiny and legislative amendments are the key to solving negligent or unlawful management of pharmaceutical products.

Joseph Lee Kok-long, lawmaker from the health services constituency as well as being a Hospital Authority member, criticized the current monitoring system as ineffective in preventing errant practices by pharmaceutical companies and drug suppliers.

"The current Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance doesn't indicate that registration of drugs must be renewed every several years, or details the quality control and drug recall. It was compiled in 1969 and is outdated," he said.

Lee thought the effective way to combat industry malpractice was to amend present legislation, including penalty enhancements.

He also suggested a drug safety center be set up under the health department to conduct regular and surprise inspections.

(HK Edition 03/21/2009 page4)