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LAHORE, Jan 30: A pharmaceutical company supplied 20 cartons of a spurious medicine to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology and this drug might be one of the major causes of more than 100 patients’ death.
A member of Chief Minister’s Inspection Team told Dawn that arrested storekeeper of PIC Zulfiqar Ali told the inquiry officials on Monday that Mega Pharma had supplied substandard medicine to the health institute in May 2011.
He told CMIT officials that some two dozen cartons carrying substandard Cardiovastin of Mega Pharma were found in the stock, which was supplied to the PIC in July 2011 under batch number 451.
Quoting the storekeeper, the official said the PIC administration had informed the said medicine company about the substandard drug and asked it to replace the spurious drug with fresh and quality medicine.
Zulfiqar told CMIT officials that the company had promised to replace the substandard drug but he did not know whether it was later replaced or not.
Later, a fresh stock of the same drug was supplied to the PIC on Dec 2, 2011 and it was distributed to poor patients in combination with four other drugs, the official said quoting the storekeeper.
CMIT officials were suspecting that the company might have supplied its substandard drug in the Dec 2 stock of the same medicine, as patients with reaction of drugs started appearing in the end of the same month.
Meanwhile, one of the six drugs sent for analysis to the Central Drug Testing Laboratory, Karachi has been declared substandard.
The samples of six drugs, which were retrieved from cardiac patients of the PIC, were sent to the CDTL by Allama Iqbal Medical College Principal Prof Dr Javed Akram in the last week of December.
CDTL reports received by Dr Javed Akram on Monday cleared five drugs, including Cardiovastin, Soloprin, Isotap, Atenololo and Concort and declared Alphagril spurious.
Interestingly, Alfagril was mentioned in the suspected drugs in the FIR registered with Shadman Police Station in the wake of the medicines reaction scandal, but the medicine was not supplied to the PIC owing to some reasons best known to its administration.
A source said the PIC administration had time and again asked the management of the Alfalah Pharma to ensure timely supply of Alfagril, but the company did not heed the requests. Even the said drug was not provided to PIC when its administration issued warnings of putting a ban on the company, the official said.
Prof Dr Javed Akram confirmed that Alfagril had been declared substandard by the CDTL. He said it was not supplied to PIC but it was retrieved from 478 of 500 cardiac patients who had reported to various government and private health facilities of the provincial capital shortly after the drug reaction. Patients told the treating doctors that they purchased this drug from the market.
One of the sacked admin officials of the PIC confirmed this development when this reporter contacted him. Requesting anonymity he said the substandard drug was supplied under a batch number 451 to the PIC in July 2011. He, however, held responsible the medicine company.
