2023-09-27 10:30:49
A health official in Pakistan said that dozens of diabetics in the country suffered loss of vision following being given contaminated medicine.
Two men behind the supply of Avastin have been arrested, and 12 government inspectors have been suspended following an investigation found the drug was packaged in an unsanitary environment, according to police and health authorities.
A spokesman for the Health Department in Punjab Province said: “So far, the injection has severely affected the vision of 68 patients in the province, and 12 people have been reported to suffer complete blindness,” noting that “we will not be able to assess the true extent of the damage caused by the injection until following treatment.” Complete infection.
Avastin, made available by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, is primarily prescribed to treat cancer, however it is given off-label in Pakistan to diabetics to prevent the growth of abnormal vessels in the eye.
Carsten Klein, a spokeswoman for Roche in Switzerland, told Agence France-Presse that the drug is not approved for any use in the eye, adding: “Roche strongly condemns this criminal act of counterfeiting, and is doing everything in its power to cooperate with the authorities to protect… Sick of counterfeit products.
The Ministry of Health in the region has banned the use of the drug to treat eyes.
One in four adults in Pakistan suffers from diabetes, one of the highest rates in the world, due to lack of exercise and a diet high in sugar. (Russia Today)
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