Punjab govt bans sale of Dexamethasone without prescription
- By Hassan Hafeez -
- Jun 17, 2020
LAHORE: Against the backdrop of Dexamethasone being termed major breakthrough in Covid-19 treatment, the Punjab government on Wednesday banned the sale of the steroid drug without doctor’s prescription, ARY News reported.
The chief drug controller issued directives for drug inspectors to monitor the distribution of Dexamethasone across the province and maintain a record of the drug’s stock in the province.
The directives are aimed at averting posssible hoarding of the steroid drug.
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Earlier today, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said a committee of health experts will consider the use of the generic steroid drug dexamethasone to treat critical COVID-19 patients in the country.
In a Twitter statement, he said: “Positive results from UK on use of Dexamethaone in critical patients welcomed by WHO as a 1st treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring Oxygen or ventilator support. Expert Committee in [Pakistan] to consider inclusion.”
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The special assistant said it is an old and cheap anti-inflammatory medicine (steroid), adding there are multiple producers of the drug in the country.