Action pledged against counterfeit medicines
CM had directed officials to digitalize medicine records at public sector hospitals. PHOTO: EXPRESS FILE
The Punjab health authorities have vowed to take action against the producers of counterfeit medicines.
The announcement came as the total number of cases of vision loss in Punjab surpassed 70, following the formation by the provincial government of a committee to investigate the alleged loss of eyesight among patients who had been administered locally produced injections in various hospitals.
Earlier, cases of diabetic patients in Lahore, Kasur and Jhang districts receiving the injections for retinal damage, resulting in severe infections and irreversible vision loss for some of them had been reported, including Chaudhry Shabbir, Main Aslam, Taufeeq, and Nasrin Bibi in Kasur.
Provincial Caretaker Minister Dr Javed Akram commented that the adverse effects had been caused by the use of counterfeit injections or the use of those which had a limited shelf life once their protective seal was broken.
He disclosed a specific incident in a private hospital in Lahore, where Avastin injections had been administered to multiple eye disease patients with separate syringes at different times, resulting in many of them losing their eyesight.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 1st, 2023.