June 17, 2011

The Department of Health today instructed drug wholesaler Winsor & Co to recall two vitamins, Vitamin B-6 Tab 50mg (Registration No. HK-49333) and Natural E-200 Cap (vitamin E) (Registration No. HK-26966) for suspected irregularities.
 
Matilda International Hospital reported to the department  this afternoon that several bottles of Vitamin B-6 Tab contained yellow gel capsules rather than the usual white tablets.
 
Winsor records indicated that the yellow gel capsules should be Natural E-200 Cap, another drug it had registered. The wholesaler had mixed up the two products in the course of relabelling.
 
The department will refer the incident to the Department of Justice for legal advice.
 
Mislabelling of vitamin E for vitamin B6 can have serious health consequences. Vitamin B may be used in the treatment of drug-induced neuropathy, and the product mix-up may delay the treatment. 
 
So far, there have been no reported adverse events related to the two products.
 
The department will monitor the recall, and investigate whether other Winsor drugs have been mislabelled.