Faulty heart drugs toll rises to 100 in Pakistan

Around 100 Pakistani heart patients have died after taking faulty medicine made locally and dozens more are in a critical condition in hospital, government officials said yesterday. "Nearly 100 patients have died due to a reaction to heart drugs," said Shahbaz Sharif, the head of the government in central Punjab province. The victims were mostly poor patients who received free drugs from the state- run Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), he said. The government said another 287 people had been admitted to hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city, after taking the drugs. Police have arrested owners of three pharmaceutical companies suspected of supplying the medicine. "Police registered a case on Tuesday after reports of deaths of people due to reaction of drugs for cardiovascular diseases," police spokesman Haroon Rashid said. Initial investigations show that drugs supplied by local manufacturers were "sub-standard," police said. The patients died due to a sudden drop in white blood cells, platelets and bone marrow damage. The problem was first detected in December when contaminated drugs in at least one batch of medicine caused 23 deaths. Sharif said samples of the suspect drugs have been sent to laboratories for tests in Pakistan, London and Paris. "Action will be taken against those found guilty," he said. The medicine has since been removed from hospitals and stores.