In the thick of allegations of contaminated eye drops sold in the American market by Chennai-based Global Pharma Healthcare, India’s apex pharmaceuticals export council has sought details from the company on the internal investigation within the next two days, News18.com has learnt.
Pharmexcil— an agency that functions under the ministry of commerce and industry — wrote a letter to the managing director of Global Pharma Healthcare, Dr Juma Venkatesh, on February 3. The letter, accessed by News18, mentions that the company has been registered with Pharmexcil since 2005 as a small-scale manufacturer.
As the news has gained the international spotlight, Pharmexcil (in the letter) has told the company that such an incident brings “a bad reputation to the Indian pharma industry and is also likely to have an impact on the trust of international agencies on Indian pharma exports”.
When contacted by News18.com, Udaya Bhaskar, director general of Pharmexcil, said that “the incident is a big blow to the industry”.
The pharma company is voluntarily recalling all lots of its eye lubricant – EzriCare Artificial Tears – allegedly linked to causing a death in the United States due to possible contamination.
While the American health agency — the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — is testing unopened bottles of EzriCare Artificial Tears, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it has moved to restrict imports of products made by the company.
Global Pharma has suspended the production of a line of eye drops from the United States market.
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