Abbott Healthcare faces 5 year ban from Tamil Nadu Govt agency: Report
Chennai: Coming down heavily on Abbott Healthcare, the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) has placed the company on 5-year ban list for allegedly concealing the fact that it has been banned by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), according to a recent media report in Times of India.
This is not the first time that the American healthcare and medical device giant has come under flak. Prior to this, Abbott was condemned by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) after a fatal bacteria, cronobacter, was found at its baby formula-making plant in February.
On April 24, 2018, the DGHS's Medical Stores Organisation had first blacklisted the company for 5 years for supply of Stromix, a blood thinner, and Becozyme C Forte on "quality" grounds, while, in October 2021, ESIC, New Delhi blacklisted it for hiding that it was on DGHS blacklist.
As per TNMSC managing director Deepak Jacob, Abbott has now once again landed in trouble after allegedly repeating the same mistake in Tamil Nadu.
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The Tamil Nadu procurement agency received a complaint about the pharma firm via mail during the tendering. On inquiring, it was found that Abbott hid the fact and did not mention the charges including suspension it was facing from other agencies.
Tamil Nadu was purchasing Ibuprofen 200 mg tablets from the company. However, with the latest ban, the company will not be able to supply pain relievers or drug-eluting stents for hearts procured by the government at low cost.
Meanwhile, the procurement agency has clarified that it will buy them from other manufacturers.
" We also bought cardiac stents for the lowest price. Many other vendors are available. We are confident there will be no adverse impact due to our action," Jacob told TOI.
Abbott is the manufacturer of many popular products in the therapeutic areas of cardiovascular, diabetes, diagnostics, neuromodulation, nutrition and pharmaceuticals. Some of its widely-known brands include Similac, PediaSure, Pedialyte, Brufen, Klacid, Alinity, Ensure, FreeStyle, iStat and MitraClip.
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