Another 23 stomach medications, produced by 19 pharmaceutical companies in Taiwan, have been found to be made of food-grade instead of pharmaceutical-grade ingredients in a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) probe, the agency said yesterday.
Thirteen pharmaceutical companies face fines and were ordered to recall products by the FDA on April 12.
The firms are required to remove products from store shelves by midnight on Wednesday and complete the recall of the products within 30 days, the agency said.
All of the affected medicines contain food-grade magnesium carbonate or calcium carbonate as their main ingredients, which could reduce their efficacy.
When magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate are the main ingredients in pharmaceutical products, those two compounds must be of pharmaceutical grade, which requires a certificate from their suppliers, the FDA said.
The companies will be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), the FDA said.
Earlier this month, the FDA began inspecting pharmaceutical companies in the wake of reports that some of them were using magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate intended for industrial purposes only.
Magnesium carbonate is marketed as a health supplement and is also used in medicines for stomach ailments.
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