State medical supplies corp clears pharma firm's drugs despite logogram error

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSCL) on Wednesday clarified that Pushkar Pharma’s seven eye and nasal solutions have correct details despite the erroneous logogram, declaring them as fit for human use.

KSMSCL Managing Director Chidananda Sadashiva Vatare said the products were subjected to extensive laboratory tests before being supplied to warehouses, which distributed them to the state government's medical facilities.

"The products were exclusively manufactured for the KSMSCL for human use only. They were tested by a NABL-approved lab by the supplier and also by private empanelled laboratories of the KSMSCL. The Drugs Control Department is also testing the products. We have found that this is meeting the IP standards," he said.

A purchase order for these seven drugs, amounting to Rs 62,89,576, was issued on October 27, 2023. The error in the KSMSCL logogram was detected in January when the products were distributed to all warehouses in the state. There were no errors in the labelling, medical composition, manufacturing, or expiry dates.

An official note by the managing director stated that the supplier, Pushkar Pharma, requested the KSMSCL to accept the supplied products by masking the error in the logogram design. The mistake indicated that the product was intended for the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department instead of the Health Department.

The KSMSCL agreed to allow the masking of the logogram under the watch of the warehouse supervisor and levied a fine of 1% of the purchase order value.

"We had two solutions — we could have sent the whole stock back or we could have masked the product and supplied it to hospitals. We chose the second option in the interest of public health because there was almost no stock of these medicines at our warehouses in January," said Chidananda.

The supplier has been instructed to replace the stocks of these seven drugs, totalling over 4.04 lakh units. Meanwhile, the KSMSCL has recalled the drugs from all its warehouses and hospitals.