TWO cancer medicines have been found to contain life-threatening levels of toxic bacteria, health officials have warned….CONTINUE READING...CONTINUE READING
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has since issued an alert over the Indian -manufactured drugs circulating in Lebanon and Yemen .
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a rare superbug which commonly found in soil and water, was discovered in an injectable chemotherapy
agent and immune system suppressant called methotrexate.
The bug rarely affects healthy individuals. according to the US Centre for Disease Control
.
But it can cause a wide range of infections in the blood or lungs of people with weakened immune systems – including those being treated for cancer – and can even lead to death.
“Any product that has any contamination and is administered directly in the body would present serious risks to patients,” the WHO said in its warning.
It is currently unclear whether anyone has died after receiving either cancer medicine or which other countries the drugs could be circulating in.
The WHO added: “Patients receiving [the] methotrexate treatment may have weakened immune systems and be more vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
“Therefore, detecting and removing this contaminated product from circulation is important to prevent harm to patients.”
The contaminated batch of methotrexate, MTI2101BAQ, was only meant to be sold in India but is could have reached parts of the Middle East through unregulated markets.
Just last week, the same bug was discovered in four types of eye drops sold in US pharmacies.
Three people have died and four have had to have their eyeballs
removed after contracting a rare superbug from the eyedrops.
Another eight people have lost vision in one or both their eyes.
The eyedrops in question are not sold in the UK.
Both cancer drugs are manufactured Celon Labs, a biopharmaceutical company based in India.
Last year, India’s pharmaceutical firms also came under fire, after cough medicines produced in the country lead to the deaths of 170 children in Gambia and Indonesia.
Experts said the medicines contained are ‘unacceptable amounts’ of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol in the syrups – ingredients which are toxic to humans and can prove fatal….CONTINUE READING
