CID to probe particles in Dextran 40 bottle

Nadira Gunatilleke

The Health Ministry will request the CID to probe into a case in which foreign particles were found inside a Dextran 40 bottle which was to be used at the Homagama State hospital.

The CID will investigate whether this was due to sabotage or if the bottle was subjected to temperature fluctuations resulting in formation of particles inside it.

Hospital authorities have not reported the incident to the Health Ministry, Medical Supplies Division (MSD) Director Dr. Kamal Jayasinghe said.

Addressing a press briefing at the MSD of the Health Ministry yesterday Dr. Jayasinghe said Dextran 40 can be ‘changed’ and particles from some bottles if the bottles were subjected to temperature fluctuation.

“The drug needs to be stored in 25 C and any temperature fluctuation can lead to ‘particle creation’ inside the bottle. The Health Ministry issued a special circular after reporting similar incidents in December 2012 and January this year when particles were found inside some Dextran 40 bottles used at the Hambantota and Kurunegala hospitals.

Instructions clearly say that the bottles should be thoroughly examined before use and if particles, cloudiness or density found inside them, such bottles should not be used,” he said. Dr. Jayasinghe said the government obtains Daxtran 40 from Thailand , the only supplier of Daxtran 40 and the drug is obtained through the WHO. “It is prepared under British standards.

There is no issue of the quality of the drug because it is natural to find particles inside Daxtran 40 bottles subjected to any temperature fluctuation. The problem is how this happened because the relevant temperature (25 C) is maintained at all times since importing the drug and given to a patient.

This is not the only time that a similar incident occurred . There were similar incidents in the past where strange things were found in certain bottles and injection vials at certain hospitals,” he said.