BANGKOK, 10 Sep 2013, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered the shutting down of a Government Pharmaceutical Organization production line that had been putting medicines into packets labeled for another drug.
FDA secretary-general Bunchai Sombunsuk spoke of the heart disease pills being shuffled with blood pressure medicine, saying that recalls are being made from 7 state hospitals that were issued the packets that had the wrong drugs. A total of 660,000 pills will be collected.
Dr. Bunchai indicated that the GPO’s production line in question will remain shut until quality control is improved.
According to GPO director Suwat Siasiriwatthana, the mislabeling was found only at Makarak hospital in Kanchanaburi province. He explained that the error could have been caused during production because the two pills looked alike, both being white-colored and round. He said the GPO will improve on its production process by preventing the manufacturing of similar-looking drugs at the same time period.
