Vietnamese health authorities cautioned medical workers on July 6 against prescribing buflomedil contained drugs, in response to a call by the European Medicine Agency to suspend oral medicines containing buflomedil.
Nguyen Viet Hung, deputy head of Vietnam’s Drug Administration, said that doctors should now prescribe exact dosage and caution patients to have dose as prescribed. The buflomedil contained drugs have been allowed to freely circulate in Vietnamese markets up till now.
The European medicines regulatory agency suspended the marketing of buflomedil contained medicines because of serious and sometimes fatal side effects in patients.
Side effects include neurological disorders such as convulsions and epilepticus (a dangerous condition where the brain is in a constant state of seizure) and cardiac disorders such as accelerated heart beat and cardiac arrest. These conditions occur due to accidental or intentional overdose or in patients with kidney problems who do not receive appropriately reduced dosage.
Vietnam’s health authorities have also warned medical clinics in the country about fake drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease and unregistered Mirapex tablets in the market.
