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Ministry orders temporary withdrawal of Tylenol

DUBAI — The Ministry of Health ordered for a temporary withdrawal of the children’s medicine Tylenol, on Monday.

The ministry also advised people to report on any side effects from the use of the cough and cold medicine.

As reported by Khaleej Times, the ministry confirmed that Zyrtec Allergy Liquid meets the specifications and hence is safe for use.

The ministry has issued a circular to all doctors and pharmacists in both public and private sectors to recall only Tylenol drops and suspensions from all pharmacies in the country upon request from the manufacturer, according to the official news agency Wam.

“The decision was issued to maintain public health safety,” said Dr Amin Al Amiri, Executive Director for Medical Practices, and Licences at the ministry.

He said the US Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall of the listed products on the request of the manufacturing company due to problems with quality packaging in the local and international market.

“Some products contained a higher concentration of active ingredients and did not meet the quality standards and had the potential for serious crystals in their packages,” he said.

The Registration and Drug Control Department has suspended - on a temporary basis - the distribution of these products in the markets, recalling the medications and return the remaining quantities to the local agent.

Since the news of the recall, parents have expressed concern and made frantic calls to doctors seeking advice.

“I immediately stopped giving the medicine to my children and I am going to discard the remaining quantities,” said Lina R, a mother of three.

Doctors, on the other hand say that they have started prescribing alternatives such as Panadol, Adol and Calpol. Dr Al Amiri urged all doctors, pharmacists and consumers who have any queries or suffer from any side effects to inform the ministry on the direct number 02-6117391 or 02-6117318, fax: 02-6313742, or by email: PV@moh.gov.ae

On Friday, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the US-based manufacturers of the medicines issued a worldwide voluntary recall of 40 drugs for children.

However, Motrin and Benadryl are not available in the UAE while Zyrtec that is available locally is manufactured in Italy and not the US.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com