Complementary medicines get the smackdown in Australia

reprise

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Massive recall of faulty health pills

The potential repercussions of this are huge, as the manufacturer involved dominated the market here in addition to supplying products for use in the manufacture of conventional medicines and exporting its products overseas.

Mind you, I also think that the TGA needs a damn good kick in the pants for having a regulatory system under which this could happen.
 
Just to make life even more interesting as winter approaches, it seems Pan manufacturers the major ingredients found in over the counter cold and flu medications :

It also makes some over-the-counter medicines including paracetamol, codeine, antihistamines and pseudoephedrine.

From the latest Yahoo Australia report.
 
It's not in the online story, but the paper also mentions the Travacalm tablets had up to 7 times the stated level of the active ingredient. People were apparently going around totally off their heads, trying to jump off ships and kill themselves.

Travacalm Original
(Contains dimenhydrinate 50 mg, hyoscine hydrobromide 0.2 mg and caffeine 20mg)

Travacalm Original is a unique product to treat travel sickness because it contains a combination of dimenhydrinate, hyoscine hydrobromide and caffeine. Dimenhydrinate is an antihistamine that has an anti-vomiting effect. Hyoscine hydrobromide is an anticholinergic drug. Anticholinergics have a wide variety of actions and are well known for their use in the prevention of travel sickness. Dimenhydrinate is longer acting than hyoscine hydrobromide. Both of these ingredients may cause drowsiness. The addition of caffeine helps to counteract the drowsiness.

Travacalm Original is ideal for travel of longer duration and can used in children over the age of two.
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Dimenhydrinate
Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine)
Dimenhydrinate
(dye-men-HY-drih-nayt)
Pregnancy Category: B Oral Liquid Syrup Tablets Chewable Tablets: Apo-Dimenhydrinate Calm-X Dimentabs Dramamine Gravol Marmine Motion-Aid PMS-Dimenhydrinate Travamine Travel Tabs Traveltabs Triptone (OTC). Injection: Dimenhydrinate Injection Dinate Dramanate Dramilin Dymenate Gravol Hydrate Marmine Reidamine (Rx)


Classification: Antihistamine, antiemetic
Click to expand...
 
Dear reprise,

Your title of "Complementary medicines get the smackdown in Australia" is interesting.

I don't see at all as simply focusing on the 'evils' of complementary medicines, but rather a specific company that is obviously not up to standards judging from this report of the situation.

Sincerely,

S. Holmes
 
Dear Sherlock

Despite the fact that it was a pharmacy only OTC travel sickness medication which sparked the audit of Pan Pharmaceuticals, and despite the fact that they manufacture products which are only found in other pharmacy only medications, consumers are being told not to take their vitamin supplements and other "alternative" medications until they have been cleared - they are NOT being told not to take their antihistamines or cold and flu remedies, which are equally likely or unlikely to be of questionable safety until they've been cleared by the TGA. One has to question WHY the TGA and media are focusing on the "alternative" medications.
 
I think it just shows the contempt they have for their 'medicines'. They knew they were all useless, and just acted as if they were. Many of the medicines didn't even have the correct ingredients, substituting cow cartilage for shark cartilage, for example.
 
a_unique_person said:
I think it just shows the contempt they have for their 'medicines'. They knew they were all useless, and just acted as if they were. Many of the medicines didn't even have the correct ingredients, substituting cow cartilage for shark cartilage, for example.
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I think people are overlooking the fact that Pan is a contract manufacturer and that many of the companies they were manufacturing for also had a responsibility to ensure that they product they were purchasing was if not efficacious, then at least not harmful. Mayne Health (for those outside of Australia, Mayne is a HUGE entity here which operates hospitals, aged care facilities, group medical practises, etc) has already announced that products in 3 of its vitamin/supplement lines were manufactured by Pan. One has to ask why a LEGITIMATE medical group such as Mayne has at least 3 brand lines selling products which are of questional value in maintaining or improving health.
 
This statement from the Therapeutic Goods Administration's web-site interested me:

"It is stressed that, up to this time, no safety problems have been identified with prescription medicines supplied as Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme items. These medicines have been assessed thoroughly by the TGA and all people may continue to take their Pharmaceutical Benefits medicines without concern."

Does this mean they simply don't care about non-prescription medicines? I wonder if the people who use the now-banned products knew the difference in testing between them and prescription medicines?
 
Turn on the 11am news Magpie, the calls for tighter regulation have already begun.
 
oh no, beef cartillage sub for shark cartillage? No quality control? A loss of confidence? Here in the US we have the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the US. Basically they do not need FDA approval, and they do not need to tell you what is in the product, nor is there any QC/QA or efficacy testing. Same thing goes for "natural products" they just say ingredients: herbs 100%. Just wait for this to happen here, its coming.
 
Quasi said:
oh no, beef cartillage sub for shark cartillage? No quality control? A loss of confidence? Here in the US we have the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the US. Basically they do not need FDA approval, and they do not need to tell you what is in the product, nor is there any QC/QA or efficacy testing. Same thing goes for "natural products" they just say ingredients: herbs 100%. Just wait for this to happen here, its coming.
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It may happen sooner than you think, Quasi - Pan Pharmaceuticals exports to a significant number of countries and I'd almost bet that the good old US of A is one of them.
 
Here's an interesting site that discusses this issue:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/latest/story/0,4390,186058,00.html?

"Pan is Australia's largest manufacturer of herbal, vitamin and nutritional supplements and a large producer of over-the-counter medicines including paracetamol, codeine, antihistamines and pseudoephedrine.

It produces 70 per cent of the so-called complementary medicine market and exports 40 per cent of its products to dozens of countries including Singapore.

Pan was accused of risking lives by releasing products despite failing to test raw ingredients, fudging the results of tests and failing to clean equipment between batches, potentially contaminating products. "

The affected drugs are:
1. 21st Century Product Sdn Bhd
2. 21st Century Products
3. Accord Marketing Services
4. American Nutritional
5. Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd
6. Direct Circle Corporation Sdn Bhd
7. Duopharma (M) Sdn Bhd
8. Enervite Export Pty Ltd
9. Enervite USA
10. Gateway Promotions
11. General Nutrition Agencies Pte Ltd
12. Grand Pan-Well
13. Kordel
14. Kordel Nutritional Products
15. Kordel Healthcare
16. Marketlink International Corporation
17. Mode Circle Pte Ltd
18. Nature's Herbals
19. Nature's Way
20. New Image International
21. Nutralife
22. Nutrivital
23. Pan Laboratories (Australia) Pty Ltd
24. Pan Pharmaceuticals
25. Pan Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd
26. Prime
27. Red Seal Natural Health Ltd
28. Roche Pharmaceuticals & Chemicals Ltd
29. Seito Ocean Products Pty Ltd
30. Sun Nature Products Pty Ltd
31. Thompson Nutrition Ltd
32. United Laboratories Inc
33. Vita Health Laboratories (Australia) Pty Ltd
34. Vita Health Labs Pte Ltd
35. Wan Medical Supplies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
36. Watsons
37. Watson's The Chemist Ltd
38. Wellmex Sdn Bhd
39. Young & Success Enterprise Co Ltd
from:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,185941,00.html?
 
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