Enzyplex Ban Due To Contamination Scare

The Hospital Authority said on Friday it will temporarily stop prescribing an over-the-counter digestive drug used by thousands of patients, following a contamination scare.

The supplier of the drug, Enzyplex, will also suspend sales as tests are conducted.

Health authorities launched an investigation after a type of mould called monascus was found on Enzyplex tablets that were prescribed to a cancer patient in Queen Mary Hospital.

The patient subsequently died, but doctors say it didn't cause her death.

Hospital Authority and Department of Health officials who held an emergency meeting on Friday concluded that the kind of mould found on the drug can't harm a healthy person, but could infect people who are immuno-compromised.

Different batches of the drug have already been tested, but it'll take up to a week for results to come back.

For now, the supplier says it'll stop selling and distributing the drug, and the Hospital Authority says it will also stop giving Enzyplex to the 4,000 public hospital patients who are prescribed with it.

The Authority also says a review of clinical records confirmed that there's been no reported cases of monascus infection in public hospitals over the past five years.