Bad labelling for medicines do not cause harm, says ministry

By Andria Kades

THE Health ministry announced on Friday it would investigate a series of complaints over unsuitable labelling for medicines a day after some were withdrawn from the market for not adhering to legal specifications.

“It was a small number, I can’t tell you if it was exactly eight but, yes, some were handed over the ministry,” spokeswoman Maria Lantidou told the Cyprus Mail.

Although the drugs carry no risk to people, the problem lies with the fact that the instruction sheet inside the package was in German, but not in Greek, as is required by the law.

All the drugs fall under the same company, however the name has not been released “not to protect them, but because the medicine does not pose any health risk to people,” who are advised to continue to take their medicine as per their doctor’s instructions, Lantidou said.

Asked if there will be any sanctions against the company, the spokeswoman said the matter would be put to the medicines council that would review the case and take, if necessary, any measures.

Over the next few days, the health ministry will be recalling some of the medicines off the shelves of the state pharmacies after making sure there will not be a shortage of supply, while the private sector will also need to be addressed.

“It is worth questioning how medicine with these labels were allowed to get out into the public, because the procedure that is adhered to with our medicine is very strict and with the slightest omission on the packaging they are either not received or are fined,” Yiannis Kkolos from the pharmaceutical services told Phileleftheros.

“Someone needs to tell us how such medicine went through the medical services’ procedure, into the pharmaceutical warehouses and from there to the state pharmacies and the illegality was not traced.”

All medicine that the specific company imports is being investigated, he added, with more stringent inspections.

“All medicine imported in Cyprus will be inspected, and the inspection will be more detailed because it seems the procedure of checking samples that is being followed until today has some gaps,” Kkolos said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.