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The Department of Health has instructed Marching Pharmaceutical Ltd to recall 216 pharmaceutical products as their labelled expiry dates were not substantiated by laboratory data.
The order was made following the department's investigation into the case which included scrutiny of documents containing products' laboratory data and assessment of the manufacturer's application for de-registration of 120 of these products.
Speaking to reporters today, Department of Health Chief Pharmacist Anthony Chan stressed that the case only involved product stability - not safety of the products which were low-risk drugs.
The recalled products are low-risk drugs. Most are non-prescription products including vitamins, minerals and cough and cold preparations. Others are prescription topical preparations such as skin creams.
The manufacturer has set up a hotline, 2781 6320, to answer questions.
Recall exercise monitored
In response to media enquiries today, Secretary for Food & Health Dr York Chow said the department had discovered the drug-labelling irregularity and taken action to rectify the situation.
According to the pharmaceutical products recall guidelines, the manufacturer must submit progress and final reports to the department for monitoring.
The department monitors actions taken in every recall exercise to ensure it adheres to all necessary steps.
Dr Chow also said the Hospital Authority is the biggest pharmaceutical products consumer in Hong Kong, and it generally has more than one source for its drugs.
However, it has relied on a single source for its supply of Metformin, a drug for diabetics.
In future, the authority will ensure it has more than one supplier for this type of high-volume medication.
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