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The Department of Health today (May 25) called on people not to buy or use a brand of health product called Heng Tong Jiangtangning Jiaonang (恒通降糖宁胶囊) which was found to have contained undeclared Western drug ingredients that may cause side effects.
The appeal followed investigations by the department into a report by the Hospital Authority concerning the product. A 82-year-old woman, who developed low blood sugar level after taking the product, was admitted to Tseung Kwan O Hospital on May 5. She recovered and was discharged from hospital on May 7. The product was prescribed by a local listed Chinese medicine practitioner and imported from the Mainland.
A department spokesman said that samples of the product taken for laboratory tests were found to have contained Western drug ingredients - phenformin, which has been banned in Hong Kong since 1985, and glibenclamide - a Western drug ingredient for treating diabetes. Both phenformin and glibenclamide may lead to low blood sugar level if incorrectly used.
Phenformin, previously for the management of diabetes, was banned as it was associated with an unacceptably high incidence of lactic acidosis (build up of lactic acid in the blood) which could be fatal.
Glibenclamide, which could cause nausea and gastro-intestinal upset, should only be used under medical supervision. Products containing glibenclamide are Third Schedule poisons under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance and can only be sold on a doctor's prescription and under supervision of a pharmacist.
The spokesman said the department had no record of the health product having been imported into Hong Kong for sale, or having been submitted for registration. All the stock of the product was seized by the department.
People who have been using the product are advised to seek advice from their doctors as soon as possible.
They should dispose of the product or submit it to the department's Pharmaceutical service at the third floor, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon, during office hours.
Reprinted from HKSAR Government web page:
http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200705/25/P200705250194.htm