Pharma firms are ordered by DRAP to recall Chinese medications that contain propylene glycol.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has ordered pharmaceutical companies to recall medications containing propylene glycol, particularly those imported from China, in an effort to reduce the supply of subpar medications, according to 24 NewsHD TV station.

In a letter to the Chemists and Drugs Associations, DRAP made it clear that the pharmaceutical industry’s pre-production testing of propylene glycol was unsuccessful. The excessive levels of EG and DIG in propylene glycol are harmful to human health.

International requirements were not met by local medicine production enterprises, according to the authority. The amount of propylene glycol (PG), a chemical that is forbidden, is more than acceptable in raw materials manufactured in China. Consequently, medical supply businesses are instructed not to provide the specified raw material.

At least six pharmaceutical businesses were discovered by the FDA to be involved in the production of syrups containing excessive levels of propylene glycol (PG), a material that is forbidden.

Syrups produced by nearby industrial enterprises were discovered to be polluted, per a document released by DRAP.

After finding contaminants earlier this month, the regulator confiscated a shipment of PG that was imported from a firm in Thailand.

A paper released by DRAP claims that PG impurities, also known as ethylene glycol (EG), when consumed, metabolise into poisons that impact the heart and central nervous system and can result in potentially deadly kidney damage.

When the Maldives revealed that imported medications from Pakistan were contaminated in December 2023, the problem of dangerous syrups brought Pakistan international disgrace.