KUALA LUMPUR – Azithromycin, an antibiotic with potentially adverse side-effects, is allegedly being sold off-the-shelf in a grocery store in Johor.
According to a tweet by X user @fiholicMD, the medication, which is normally used to treat ailments such as pneumonia, Lyme disease, sinus and sexually transmitted infections, is up for sale at a mere RM15 without a prescription.
The user also attached an image of the antibiotic, which was packaged in boxes of 12 tablets each by a company known as Sichuan Medco Pharmaceutical Stock Co Ltd.
The product packaging as well as the price display are in Chinese.
The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) previously said that it had received information from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the risk of severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR), including acute generalised exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), for azithromycin and other medications.
In a 2018 article directed at healthcare professionals, NPRA, an agency under the Health Ministry, said that EMA had directed azithromycin products to include a warning in the product information.
“NPRA has conducted a safety review on the risk of SCAR associated with the use of these antibiotics,” it said in the article.
“Given the severity of the adverse event and the fact that urgent medical intervention is required, NPRA has concluded that all products containing azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin and roxithromycin are required to update the product packaging insert with this risk.”
The article also pointed to a directive issued by the NPRA in July 2018, in which the Pharmacy Services senior director agreed to include safety information regarding SCAR on products that contain azithromycin and several other medications.
Registration holders were ordered to abide by the directive.
Scoop has reached out to the Health Ministry for comment on the matter.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad is aware of the unauthorised sale of azithromycin, responding to a post on X that highlighted the matter.
“Thanks for the alert. This is extremely terrible… Pharmacy Division has to take more aggressive measures promptly,” he posted. – December 29, 2023