The Pharmacy and Poisons Board responded on Friday, October 7, after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on the circulation of substandard medical products.
The WHO stated that it had received reports of substandard medical products manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals circulating in the Republic of Gambia.
However, PPB said that the impacted products are not registered in Kenya and therefore are not available in the Kenyan market.
The Drug Regulatory Authority further said that the alert by WHO was specific to drugs manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals and not any other manufacturing companies.
Read More
"According to WHO the laboratory analysis of the four products namely; Promethazine Oral Solution (Manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceuticals, India), Kofexmalin baby Cough Syrup, Makoff baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, found that they contain unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants.
"The Pharmacy and Poisons would like to inform the public that the impacted products are NOT registered in Kenya and therefore they are not available in the Kenyan market," read part of a statement signed by PPB CEO Dr. F.M. Siyoi.
Dr. Siyoi further assured the public that there was no cause for alarm as the cough preparations and promethazine products in the Kenyan market meet the authorization requirements on quality, safety, and efficacy as required by PPB.
However, he advised members of the public to be vigilant at all times and reports any suspected poor-quality medicines or adverse drug reactions to the nearest healthcare facility or PPB through its official website.
