Punjab drug control authorities have issued an alert over a fake batch of Dydrogesterone 10mg, a hormonal medicine. Patients have been advised not to use the affected batch.
According to a public notice issued by the Punjab government, the Punjab Drug Testing Laboratory found the medicine to be counterfeit.
The Provincial Quality Control Board then directed officials to issue an immediate alert.
The notice identified the medicine as Dydrogesterone 10mg. Its batch number is DQ-010 and its expiry date is November 2027.
The medicine was labelled as a product of Merck Pharmaceuticals in Karachi. However, the notice described the company as fictitious.
Where was the fake medicine found?
The medicine was recovered from Salman Saeed Medical Store in Bangla Manthar, an area of Rahim Yar Khan.
Drug control authorities have directed pharmacies, medical stores, wholesalers and distributors to stop the sale and supply of the affected batch immediately.
They must also provide details of their remaining stock to the relevant authorities.
What should patients and medical stores do?
Patients have been advised not to use the identified batch of Dydrogesterone 10mg. They should also buy medicines only from licensed and authorised medical stores.
Authorities have ordered further investigations to trace the medicine’s supply chain and identify those involved in its distribution.
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal recently announced that citizens will soon be able to check whether a medicine is genuine or fake through a mobile app. The process will take only a few minutes.
How can you check if a medicine is fake or genuine in Pakistan?
According to details, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mustafa Kamal to review the trial of a two-dimensional (2D) barcode system for medicines.
The meeting was attended by the chief executive officer of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and the chief executive officer of the National Information Technology Board (NITB).
