Dubai: A popular cold medicine remains on shelves of pharmacies in Dubai despite a nationwide recall order, due to an overdose risk, by health authorities in the UAE.
Pharmacies in Dubai are still selling Actifed syrup cold medicine, which is sold over the counter for Dh16.50, saying they have not received any notice from the Ministry of Health.
"We haven't received anything from the ministry. We're still selling it," said a pharmacist on Shaikh Zayed Road.
"Inspectors from the ministry came yesterday and they didn't say anything," said another pharmacist in Bur Dubai.
UAE health authorities issued an order to stop selling the cold medicine because the information mistakenly stated the appropriate dosage for children aged 2 to 5 years was 5.2 ml instead of 2.5 ml. The error was on the Arabic printout of the dosage instructions.
Overdosing would increase the side-effects of the medicine, including drowsiness and heart palpitations.
Dr Easa Al Mansouri, director of drug control at the ministry, told Gulf News the recall was effective on the current stock, which carries the wrong dosage recommendation in the GCC countries.
"It's not a big problem. The medicine will be returned to the market once it is corrected."
GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturers of the medicine, told Gulf News they were not aware of the recall either.
However, pharmacies in Abu Dhabi have stopped selling the medicine.
Dr Mohammad Abu Al Khair, drug consultant for Abu Dhabi General Authority for Health Services, told Gulf News the agent for the medicine had started collecting the stock because of the danger of overdosing children.
"It is serious to exceed the maximum dosage. It is not something that children should be getting at this age," he said.
He added the printing error would give children about a third over the maximum dosage for antihistamines and decongestants.
Your comments
Totally unexpected from GlaxoSmithKline. Since defected batches have been distributed in pharmacies, pharmacists are requested to keep record of those batches and keep them aside until replaced by manufacturer.
Aleem
Ras Al Khaimah,UAE
GlaxoSmithKline being one of the biggest marketer is often found as arrogant and their approach has resulted in their carelessness in this matter. I hope the Ministry Of Health in UAE takes note of this.
Linda
Kerala,India
I think quality control and quality assurance departments of GlaxoSmithKline should be held responsible for this negligence. There are high expectations from the big multinational products and people are always giving blind trust to their dosage instruction. As it is an over the counter product, there is less involvement of doctor's instructions. Therefore defected batches should be recalled as soon as possible before any accident occurs.
Fauz
RAK,UAE
