PCMC recalls over 1.5 lakh Vitamin B Complex tablets after patient reports colour change

Pune: The Pimpri Chinchwad civic administration has recalled over 1.5 lakh tablets used to treat Vitamin B deficiency after a patient reported a change in colour in the medicine supplied at a municipal hospital on Monday.According to officials from the medical department of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), a patient given "B Complex" tablets at Thergaon Civil Hospital noticed that a tablet in a strip had turned completely black and alerted the hospital authorities.
Laxman Gophane, the head of PCMC's medical department, said instructions were issued immediately to stop distribution of the batch at all civic hospitals and the matter was escalated to the supplier. The hospitals have been asked to submit the stock with them to the store department of the municipal corporation.Sources said the supplier of this medicine provides nearly 12 types of medicines to the civic body. Officials clarified that as no complaints had been received regarding the other medicines, its supply remained unaffected.Gophane said, "We have asked officials of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to test the samples to ensure safety of citizens though no other complaint has been received from across the city." He said only suppliers whose medicines were tested at NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited labs supplied medicines to the civic body. Girish Hukare, joint commissioner of the FDA, told TOI that samples had been collected and would be sent for analysis to a laboratory in Mumbai or Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. "The civic administration has been asked to stop supplying the medicine until the test reports are received," he said. Another official of the FDA said a detailed report from the lab would be available only after about two months. A PCMC official said the civic body distributed around 8 to 9 lakh B Complex tablets every month across its hospitals. "As distribution of this batch has been halted, an alternative medicine will be supplied to patients," he said.