Chennai : Manufacturer In Soup Over Mislabelled Cough Syrup

Chennai, 22 Jan 2019: The photo of a wrongly labelled bottle of cough syrup purchased by the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation has created a furore among doctors and drugstore managers in government hospitals across the state.

The cough syrup, which should have composition of compounds such as codeine, chlorpheniramine, dextromethorphan hydrobromide, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, guaifenesin or bromhexine, had been labelled as povidone iodine, a solution that is used as anti-microbial for sterility before surgeries.

The state health department ordered a detailed inquiry as soon as the news spread. “It turned out to be that error was not just in composition labelling, but also in the logos,” said TNMSC managing director P Umanath. The Bangalore-based drug manufacturer SM Pharmaceuticals, had mislabelled povidone iodione solution meant for supply to Rajasthan government with Tamil Nadu logo. “He is a common supplier and he has logos of both the governments. He has apologised to Rajasthan and recalled the batch. The Rajasthan government may take action against him as mislabelling is a major violation as per Drugs and Cosmetics Act. We have also decided to impose a fine on him for misusing our logo,” he added.

Since 2018, the drug corporation has stopped purchase of combination medicines used in cough syrup after the centre banned combination medicine. “It is no longer available with us. This photo was taken in the empanelled laboratory where it was sent for quality check. The company has told us that they have taken back 600 lots from this batch,” said he said.

TNMSC buys drugs for government hospitals in the state and Lakshadweep islands. “We do quality checks on every batch that comes. Sometimes, we pick batches from warehouses and hospitals to check if they have the prescribed strength. If they don’t hold strength till expiry, we return the drug and blacklist the company,” said state drug control director K Sivabalan.ET Healthworld