ISLAMABAD, Aug 4: A substandard painkilling drug is being administered at the capital’s largest hospital of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), sources told Dawn here on Friday.

The sources said Orthonil (diclosenac sodium), which had been declared substandard by Drug Testing Laboratory (DTL), Karachi, could do nothing good but certainly had some side effects.

The Pims management had sent samples of the medicine purchased in two different batches (No. 862 and 863) to the DTL in June 2006, but the reports of the tests were received after a year.

Interestingly, during this period the medicine that is commonly used as a painkiller was administered to the patients, the sources said, adding that the substandard drug was also given to people who came to the hospital’s emergency ward.

A report (No. 1044/2006) on the medicine of batch 862, which was received on June 14, suggested that the manufacturer of the tablet had not followed the required standard in its production.

Likewise, the other report (No. 1043/2006) on the medicine of batch 863 received on June 15, also declared the medicine substandard.

The sources said at least three batches of the medicine were declared substandard in a period of 21 months.

Earlier, the sample of medicine from batch 861 was sent to the DTL in early 2005, the sources said, adding that the report of the test was issued on September 29, 2005, but interestingly it was received on January 14, 2006.

It is not only the DTL that has declared the medicine substandard, the National Institute of Health also came out with the same result on February 18, 2006, the sources said.

They said the substandard medicine was also available in different medical stores of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. “There is a chance that the remaining medicine lying in the hospital might also be shifted to medical stores for sale.”

The sources said that according to the law the DTL was bound to issue its report within 60 days, however, it was issuing the same after a year. In case of work load, the DTL must issue the report within 120 days on request.

The late issuance of the report provides enough time to the medicine manufacturers to clear the stock, as by the time the report is made public the medicines have already been sold in the market due to their short expiry date.

Pims Executive Director Dr Fazle Hadi, when contacted, confirmed that the DTL had declared the medicine substandard.

He said the medicine would be destroyed in the presence of a drug inspector. The medicine manufacturer company will compassionate the hospital, he added.