E-DRUG: Medical product quality issues reports
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Dear colleagues,
The COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by a multitude of reports of
diverted, substandard and falsified (SF) medical products. Since the
beginning of the pandemic we have identified 959 relevant articles on
quality problems with COVID-19 medical products in the English language lay
press.
Please read about these in the Medical Product Quality Report - COVID-19 Issues
https://www.iddo.org/mq/research/medical-product-quality-reports
which hold reports from the scientific literature, public alerts/warnings, and lay press.
The fourteenth issue, covering the months of October, November & December
2021, is now available and reports on 58 different incidents of quality
issues with COVID-19 medical products from articles from searches in
English language Google News.
Similar to the previous report we have amalgamated the reports on COVID-19
medical products and on COVID-19 vaccines into one report because of the
increasing amount of work required.
COVID-19 VACCINES: In Part A, we have issued a further summary of public
domain reports on quality issues with COVID-19 vaccines we are aware of. So
far we have recorded 178 reports of incidents on quality issues with
COVID-19 vaccines linked to 45 different countries.
In October, November and December 2021, only 6 new incidents were reported. We report for the first time on incidents in Papua New Guinea where the provincial health authority halted COVID19 vaccines for use due to vial heat exposure while transporting and contamination upon arrival.
In November, WHO issued two alerts that refer to falsified COVID-19 vaccines identified in the Islamic Republic of Iran, wrongly labeled as made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca.
OTHER COVID-19 MEDICAL PRODUCTS: Part B discusses diagnostics, Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE), sanitisers & disinfectants, and medicines.
Since June 2021 the overall number of incidents linked to poor quality
COVID-19 medical products in the lay press decreased considerably. However,
quality issues with masks and sanitisers continue to be reported, as do ad
hoc reports of falsified or unregistered ivermectin, even though its use in
COVID-19 is not proven. Both in the USA and in India there were reported
issues with substandard remdesivir.
We remain concerned about the global risk of diverted and SF COVID-19
medical products. We need to be aware of potential new virus variants and a
potential resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Criminals will be quick to step in
when the need for certain COVID-19 medical products rises again. Therefore,
we continue to share data from the MQM Globe, that serves as a warning
system for potential SF quality issues.
Any remarks or additions to content are greatly appreciated (please write
to medicinequality@iddo.org). We would be delighted if you could
disseminate this information within your networks.
Very best wishes,
Inthaphavanh Kitignavong, Kerlijn Van Assche, Céline Caillet, Paul N Newton
Medicine Quality Research Group,
Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO) &
Mahidol Oxford Research Unit (MORU),
Centre for Tropical Medicine & Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford,
Oxford, UK
Kerlijn Van Assche <kerlijn.vanassche@iddo.org>