The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked hospitals and pharmacies to recall batches of rosuvastatin — a drug to control cholesterol marketed as Crestor — which the agency said had been mixed with counterfeit drugs.
FDA official Chih Lan-hui (遲蘭慧) said that global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca received a report from a pharmacist in New Taipei City last month that its Crestor 10mg film-coated tablets might contain counterfeit drugs in similar packaging.
The company confirmed the product was fake after sending a sample abroad to be examined.
The FDA received the report from AstraZeneca on Thursday and the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation, Chih said.
Preliminary investigations showed that counterfeit drugs were mixed with batch number MV503 of Crestor, which was distributed in October last year.
National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) data showed that more than 570,000 people are taking Crestor with about NT$2.3 billion (US$74.1 million) spent on the drug each year.
Chih said the counterfeit drug contained atorvastatin — another lipid-lowering medication — as its main ingredient, rather than rosuvastatin.
Taipei Department of Health official Wang Ming-li (王明理), director of the Food and Drug Division, yesterday said the department’s preliminary investigation at pharmacies in the city showed that another of the company’s film-coated cholesterol-lowering products might contain counterfeit drugs as well.
“We found 66 boxes of Crestor 10mg film-coated tablets with three different batch numbers and 44 boxes of 5mg film-coated tablets with one batch number” at a pharmacy that purchased the drugs from the same source as that which provided the confirmed fakes in New Taipei City, Wang said. “We collected them for testing.”
Taiwan Pharmacist Association spokesperson Shen Tsai-ying (沈采穎) said the patent on atorvastatin expired in November 2011, so the ingredients are 30 to 50 percent cheaper than rosuvastatin, so unscrupulous manufacturers of atorvastatin can captialize on the difference in cost.
Shen said many pharmacists reported that most of the MV503 batch has already been sold.
If people have medication from that batch, they should not take it, but should exchange it for the same drug from a different batch, Shen said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
RSS