Global Pharma Healthcare has stopped production of eye drops linked to the US market
Chennai:
Tamil Nadu’s drug regulator said it had found “no contamination” in a sample of eye drops manufactured by Chennai-based Global Pharma. This made headlines after US watchdogs linked infections, blindness and even death to eye drops.
The head of Tamil Nadu’s drug enforcement agency, PV Vijayalakshmi, said no contamination was found in unopened eye drops samples produced at the Chennai factory. “Samples from several batches, including the one in question, were analyzed. No contamination was found. Raw materials were also found according to standards,” the director of the drug regulator said.
Vijayalakshmi declined to comment on US watchdog statements regarding eye drops.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the nation’s premier health care watchdog, has linked eye drops to the potential for highly drug-resistant bacteria to gain a foothold in the United States.
Three deaths, eight blindness and dozens of infections have been attributed to eye drops manufactured by Global Pharma Healthcare under the brand name EzriCare Artificial Tears. The New York Times reportedciting the CDC.
Infectious disease experts said the drug-resistant strain had never been detected in the United States and would be particularly difficult to treat with currently available antibiotics, the paper reported.
Global Pharma Healthcare, located about 40 kilometers south of Chennai, stopped producing eye drops for the US market in February. Also at the consumer level, he recalled unexpired lots of EzriCare artificial tears and Delsam Pharma artificial tears.
Then Tamil Nadu’s drug regulator found “no evidence of deviation” at the Chennai factory in February.
