There's fake Tylenol lurking on store shelves - but how can you make sure it doesn't get into your household?
Tonight, the Ministry of Health and Wellness has a market surveillance team looking for the bad batches and removing them from shelves.
But how did the bogus medication end up in country? And how was it distributed across dozens of pharmacies and stores? And how do you avoid it? Chief Drug Inspector Dr Crystal Samouge answered our questions in a Zoom interview today.
Dr. Crystal Samouge, Chief Drug Inspector
"So the release states that the Ministry of Health and Wellness advises the public that falsified Tylenol has been discovered at various supermarkets across the country. The Ministry of Health and Wellness started an investigation and the removal of all products found countrywide and the falsified product identified bears the batch number GS 13790 with an expiration date of 03/24 or March 2024."
"The public is advised to become familiar with the presentation of the medication and along with the press release, we also released a photograph which points out some of the features that they can look for on the actual falsified medication."
"The Ministry recommends the following. One, avoid purchasing and consuming this falsified medicine to safeguard your health. Two, obtain medications only from distributors and health facilities with a valid license from the Ministry of Health and Wellness."
"The Ministry requests the cooperation of all merchants and wholesalers who currently have this medication in stock and we ask them to please contact the Ministry of Health and Wellness so that we can arrange for removal of the stock."
"What we know is that we have not found the batch in what we call our importation database, which is a database that includes all the medication that have received an importation permit from the Ministry of Health and Wellness."
"We have not seen this batch in our importation database, so it likely means then that it came in illegally and that's something that we're trying to determine who exactly is bringing it in and how is it that they are bringing it in."
The Ministry says that they have not received any reports of adverse effects showing in persons who have consumed the fake Tylenol. The item has been distributed most widely within the Orange Walk, Cayo and Belize districts.
