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Pakistan shuts down pharma facility after deaths

Counterfeit drugsThe authorities in Pakistan have shut down a manufacturing facility in Punjab on suspicion of producing medicines that have killed dozens of people, according to local news reports.

The estimated number of deaths from the incident is rising, with an initial official figure of 27 now superseded by estimates in the press of 60-70-plus.

Reports have suggested that the medicines which were substandard, spurious and in some cases past their expiry dates are involved in the incident.

One theory for the cause of the fatalities is suspected  metal contamination of cardiovascular medicines made at the unidentified plant, including Cardiovestin (simvastatin) for high cholesterol, antiplatelet drug Alfagril (clopidogrel), antihypertensive Concort (amlodipine) and a low-dose formulation of aspirin sold as Soloprin.

Earlier this week Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency arrested the owners of three drugmakers - Alfalah Pharma, Mega Pharmaceuticals and Pharmawise Laboratories – thought to be responsible for supplying the drugs to the state-run Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), which in turned provided them to patients.

Many of the patients who received the medicines are reported to have been given them free of charge.

The probe also appears to be widening to include officials at PIC, as well as provincial drug inspectors and drug testing lab staff.

Media reports on the incident remain somewhat confused and contradictory at present, but there have been suggestions that ‘spurious' drugs may also be involved, according to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.

The paper cites the Punjab government’s Drug Testing Laboratory as indicating that samples of Cardiovestin from Mega Pharma were spurious.




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