Will this affect insurance companies too? QBE is the only red in my protfolio today.
THE AGE
Medicines recall alert
By Tom Noble
Health Editor
April 29 2003
Australians have been warned to stop taking vitamin and herbal supplements after the Federal Government yesterday suspended the licence of a top manufacturer and ordered the nation's biggest recall of health products.
The medicines watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said an investigation had uncovered substitution of ingredients, manipulated test results and substandard manufacturing processes by Pan Pharmaceuticals of Sydney.
The TGA ordered the immediate withdrawal of 219 products mostly sold under the Pan brand.
Thousands of other health products made by Pan and marketed under other names are set to be recalled within days.
Full page advertisements in the nation's newspapers today warned consumers against a range of suspect products identified by name.
Most were still being sold in pharmacies and supermarkets last night.
A spokesman said the TGA would today ask other companies to withdraw affected products.
"Several thousand products will be recalled," the spokesman said. He would not say which companies were involved.
But one of Australia's biggest pharmaceutical manufacturers, Mayne, confirmed last night that some products sold under the company's Cenovis, Nature's Own and Golden Glow brands would be affected by the recall.
"There are some products affected in our range. At the moment we are working out what they are," said Mayne spokesman Rob Tassie. "By the morning we will have a list of all the products which will be recalled."
Mr Tassie said only a minority of products sold under the company's brands would be affected. "Most of Cenovis we (manufacture) ourselves."
Blackmores and Herron Pharmaceuticals last night issued statements saying their products were not affected.
The TGA said prescription medicines were not affected, and that people should continue taking essential medicines.
An initial list of recalled products, most sold under the Pan brand, is available at the TGA website. The TGA indicated that a complete list might not be available until later this week or early next week.
The TGA's Dr John McEwen said consumers, in the meantime, should avoid taking their their complementary or vitamin products "unless there is some very special reason for them to take them".
Investigations into Pan began in January after 19 people were hospitalised and 87 others suffered adverse effects from an anti-travel sickness tablet, Travacalm. The Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Trish Worth, said investigators "found a litany of substandard quality and safety practices including substitution of ingredients, manipulation of test results and substandard manufacturing processes".
The problems included:
•The status of 270 raw materials being changed on March 13 from "Quarantine" to "Pass". In a random sample, none had been tested and some were used in manufacturing.
•Four recent manipulations of laboratory tests - of an energy product, a vitamin product and a cough and cold formula - to comply with specifications.
•Four recent fabrications of vitamin products for export to comply with specifications. Two were over-strength and two under-strength.
•Several instances of beef cartilage being substituted for shark cartilage.
•Five recent instances of products being released and dispatched without the completion of tests on the raw materials.
"The auditors found, unfortunately, that their practices were endemic," Ms Worth said.
Pan Pharmaceuticals is Australia's largest contract manufacturer of complementary medicines, such as herbal, vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplements and exports to 40 countries. It also manufactures analgesics such as paracetamol and codeine, and cold and flu preparations.
The company's shares yesterday dived 29 cents to $1.20 before trading was suspended.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/28/1051381900145.html
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