The Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has banned the import and sale of all batches of Cetirizine Oral Liquid produced by Pakistan’s Pharma Laboratories.
MFDA issued an alert on November 7 stating that the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued an alert that the drug, which has been used since last year, contains diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. The presence of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) in medicines is considered harmful due to their toxic nature.
Following the WHO alert, ten samples taken from the Maldivian market were screened for the presence of the substances, and their presence was confirmed in batch 220. After further testing abroad, it was verified that all batches of the drug contained these harmful substances. Consequently, the MFDA on Sunday issued a ban on the import, sale, and use of any batch of Cetirizine Oral Liquid.
Source : Avas