The Punjab chief minister announced in a press conference on Thursday that the Isotab drug was responsible for the deaths of patients who had taken medicines from the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).These findings were based on test results received from a laboratory in the United Kingdom. However, experts said that according to the Drug Act 1976, no action could be initiated against a manufacturer unless laboratory results from a nationally registered drug testing laboratory were acquired. The Punjab government has increased the pressure on pharmaceutical companies by fulfilling the legal requirement and testing the drug Isotab at the local Drug Testing Laboratory (DTL), which confirmed the drug to be spurious.
In addition, the Swiss authorities have confirmed that their results are similar with the findings of the other two laboratories. Punjab Home Secretary Shahid Khan had written a letter to the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Sindh chief secretary, proposing to take action against the pharmacy and requesting the authorities concerned to ban the drug nationally and internationally. The results showed that 172mg of an Isotab pill contained just 20mg of Isotab, and 50mg of an anti-malarial excipient. Pharmaceutical companies questioned how the DTL could give results when the drug samples had initially been sent abroad because the facility had not been available locally. Health Secretary Captain Arif Nadeem said the DTL could conduct tests on active ingredients once a particular substance had been identified. He said action was being taken in accordance with the law.