PGI mulls in-house testing of medicines – ET HealthWorld

Chandigarh: After the recent cases of drug contamination and adverse events at PGI, the institute is contemplating starting in-house testing of medicines, a facility lacking in any public hospital in the country.

There are regional and central drugs laboratories and some private centres which are approved by the DCGI to test and analyse suspected medicine samples. No hospital has a large-scale facility or infrastructure for testing medicine safety and efficacy.

“We are actively working on it. It should be operational sooner than later. It will be a double-check. We will not have to depend on outside resources,” said Prof Vivek Lal, director, of PGI.

After five deaths of patients who were to be operated upon and were administered the sedative drug Propofol, the PGI sent the samples of the medicine to the drug control authorities in the city. It took almost a month for the test analysis report. With the in-house testing, the hospital will be able to conclude with evidence if the adverse event was due to the medicines or other complications.

“The sample was also tested by the pharmacology department in the PGI and at Panjab University. But in the absence of the requisite infrastructure/reagents, the test was not as validated as from the approved government testing laboratories,” said a faculty member at PGI.

The laboratory will follow pharmacopoeia monographs documents which are taken as reference for testing of drugs and had to be good manufacturing practice compliant. “When the facility is ready, suspected drugs will be tested here prior to giving it to the patients who are admitted for surgery or for treatment. However, for any legal action, the samples will also be sent to the approved government laboratories,” said a senior faculty member.