Friday's Round Up

 
Counterfeit seizure by MHRA

The MHRA announced the seizure of over £12million worth of counterfeit medicines within the UK this week.  The types of medicines seized included weight loss, hair less and erectile dysfunction.  This operation also involved the closure of nearly 10,000 online pharmacies who were selling counterfeit or unlicensed medicines – will the EU-wide pharmacy symbol following FMD really stop these sites from emerging?


Class 2 recall for HES (MHRA)

All remaining stock of Hydroxyethyl Starch (HES) is being recalled due to results from clinical trials showing increased risk of patient mortality when HES is administered.  HES is given intravenously as a volume expander in critically ill patients following blood loss or trauma.   This is a good example of a recall initiated following ongoing PV rather than the more commonly observed quality defect.

Drug Manufacturing in Space

This interesting article describes how NASA has been investigating the potential for using 3D inkjet printing to manufacture drugs to sustain long space expeditions.  This technology has already shown promise with research from UCL & School of Pharmacy.   Will each space shuttle need an MIA and what legal jurisdiction is space……!!

Teva Packaging error

This error identified packs of furosemide containing zopiclone that was packaged within Teva’s site near Paris.  The article describes the investigation into this and a potential root cause of sabotage.   What would your thoughts be as a QP if you uncovered or suspected this activity within your organisation?

2nd hand medicines?

This article describes a scheme within California that collects unwanted medicines from care homes and re-distributes them to clinics in order to provide assistance to those patients who cannot afford the cost of healthcare in the States.  As a QP do you know the fate of your medicines within the UK?  What happens to patient’s medicines that are returned to pharmacies or hospitals?  

Fraudulent activity at Ranbaxy  

This comes on the back of 2 other reports of companies generating fraudulent data in both USA and Scotland.  Could this be a potential QP viva question?  How would you as a QP tackle this issue if brought to your attention?

Happy Reading!