Fake Aids drugs test results still pending

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Fake Aids drugs test results still pending

By GATONYE GATHURA gathura@...

Posted Monday, October 17 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

•Patients to wait longer to know if products contained harmful substances

Patients who have been exposed to fake and poor quality HIV medicines may have

to wait longer before they can know whether the products contained any harmful

substances.

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) had promised to make known results of

suspect samples by the first week of this month, but by Friday it had neither

compiled nor released the final results.

According to Dr Jacinta Wasike, the board's director of inspection and

surveillance, they were still waiting for some results from a private

laboratory.

" The lab results from the National Quality Control Labs are out, but we are

still waiting for some more results, " she said in an email.

Last month, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board confirmed that falsified Zidolam-N

tablets had been found in Kenya in various degrees of deterioration, including

moulding, discolouration and breakages.

In a statement, the board said it had collected samples of the suspect product

and sent them to several laboratories for detailed chemical analysis and

promised that the findings would be out by the first week of this month.

Since then more falsified products have been discovered while several other

organisations have come out calling on Kenyans who may be in possession of the

suspect medicines to return them.

The board has also refused to comment on whether those responsible for the

falsification and distribution of the drugs had been identified or arrested,

saying the issue is being handled by the police.

One of the organisations which had purchased and distributed the suspect

medicines, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), says it is tracing patients who may

have received the drugs and promised to offer them appropriate medical

follow-up.

When we contacted the Humanitarian Medical & Pharmaceuticals Purchasing Centre,

a non-governmental organisation which supplies HIV medicines to MSF among other

organisations, a man who identified himself only as said the issue was

being handled by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

Public statement

On Thursday last week, the owners of the falsified medicine, Hetero Drugs

Limited of India, issued a public statement urging anybody who may have in their

possession the suspect products to return them to their doctors or point of

collection.

While assuring the public of the high quality of their products, Hetero said

that some of the suspect batches found in the local market were actually never

supplied to Kenya.

Contacted by the Nation last week, Mr Bhavesh Shah, Hetero's vice president for

international operations, refused to discuss the issue claiming it is still

under local and international investigations.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Fake+Aids+drugs+test+results+still+pending+/-/1056/\

1257220/-/p25fs8/-/index.html

[Guest guest]

Fake Aids drugs test results still pending

By GATONYE GATHURA gathura@...

Posted Monday, October 17 2011 at 22:00

In Summary

•Patients to wait longer to know if products contained harmful substances

Patients who have been exposed to fake and poor quality HIV medicines may have

to wait longer before they can know whether the products contained any harmful

substances.

The Pharmacy and Poisons Board (PPB) had promised to make known results of

suspect samples by the first week of this month, but by Friday it had neither

compiled nor released the final results.

According to Dr Jacinta Wasike, the board's director of inspection and

surveillance, they were still waiting for some results from a private

laboratory.

" The lab results from the National Quality Control Labs are out, but we are

still waiting for some more results, " she said in an email.

Last month, the Pharmacy and Poisons Board confirmed that falsified Zidolam-N

tablets had been found in Kenya in various degrees of deterioration, including

moulding, discolouration and breakages.

In a statement, the board said it had collected samples of the suspect product

and sent them to several laboratories for detailed chemical analysis and

promised that the findings would be out by the first week of this month.

Since then more falsified products have been discovered while several other

organisations have come out calling on Kenyans who may be in possession of the

suspect medicines to return them.

The board has also refused to comment on whether those responsible for the

falsification and distribution of the drugs had been identified or arrested,

saying the issue is being handled by the police.

One of the organisations which had purchased and distributed the suspect

medicines, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), says it is tracing patients who may

have received the drugs and promised to offer them appropriate medical

follow-up.

When we contacted the Humanitarian Medical & Pharmaceuticals Purchasing Centre,

a non-governmental organisation which supplies HIV medicines to MSF among other

organisations, a man who identified himself only as said the issue was

being handled by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.

Public statement

On Thursday last week, the owners of the falsified medicine, Hetero Drugs

Limited of India, issued a public statement urging anybody who may have in their

possession the suspect products to return them to their doctors or point of

collection.

While assuring the public of the high quality of their products, Hetero said

that some of the suspect batches found in the local market were actually never

supplied to Kenya.

Contacted by the Nation last week, Mr Bhavesh Shah, Hetero's vice president for

international operations, refused to discuss the issue claiming it is still

under local and international investigations.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Fake+Aids+drugs+test+results+still+pending+/-/1056/\

1257220/-/p25fs8/-/index.html