Concern in RCC after medicine mix-up confirmed, four boxes seized by Drug Controller

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Concern grew after wrong medicines were administered to patients in the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram. Temozolomide, the medicine for brain cancer, was delivered in a box that should have contained Etoposide, the medicine for lung cancer.

An error in the packaging and shipment from the company in Gujarat has now created panic among patients in RCC. Temozolomide arrived in more than ten boxes. Of these, it was only in the last four boxes that Etoposide was found instead of the other. With this, the supply was completely stopped. It is not clear whether any mix-up occurred in the medicines distributed earlier.

The incident spread concern in the institute. To clarify this matter, the RCC authorities are collecting and examining the information of patients who purchased Temozolomide from the pharmacy in the past month. In a worst-case condition, hundreds of patients are likely to have taken the medicine.

After the incident came to light, the RCC authorities filed a complaint with the state drugs controller. The drugs control department officials who had registered the case reached the RCC on Tuesday and confirmed the error in the boxing and placement of medicines. In the box of Temozolomide, Etoposide medicines were stocked, and four of such boxes were seized. This was produced in court. The RCC blacklisted the Gujarat company for the mix-up error. The RCC procures the medicine by calling tenders on its own. The Gujarat company won the tender, and so the contract materialised.

Authorities are concerned about the potential side effects of taking a lung cancer drug instead of a brain cancer drug called temozolomide. Since the ingredients of most cancer drugs are similar, changing one dose is unlikely to cause any major harm. Taking multiple doses can be dangerous.