Monday, May 13 2019 17:09

ArmInfo. It should be assumed that vision problems in patients of the Ophthalmological Center named after S.V. Malayan arose due to a violation of the rules of drug  use.  Minister of Healthcare of Armenia Arsen Torosyan stated this on  May 13 at a meeting with journalists.

To recall, a few days ago, 6 out of 10 patients who were given  intraocular injections with Avastin at the S.  Malayan  Ophthalmological Center on May 8 had serious vision problems. The  hospital management made a decision about urgent surgical  intervention. According to preliminary data, the drug was purchased  from Natali Pharm.

According to Torosyan, according to preliminary data, the medicine  was imported according to all the rules, its serial number meets the  registration requirements. "That is, it should be assumed that the  problems in patients arose as a result of a violation of the rules  for using the medicine, and not because of problems with the medicine  itself," said the minister.  As Torosyan pointed out, this is only an  assumption, and only an examination can provide an answer to this  question. The police are preparing materials to decide whether there  are grounds for initiating a criminal case. Specialists from the  Inspectorates, from the Scientific Center of Drug and Medical  Technologies Expertise (SCDMTE) are also working on the case. "If it  turns out that there has been negligence on the part of health  workers, because of which the health of citizens was damaged, this  should have legal consequences," he said.

As of today,  head of the Ministry of Healthcare said that the check  of the cash register, which was presented to the ministry, did not  indicate the company Natali Pharm, but a completely different  company.  Who exactly imported the drug, Torosyan did not say.

It should be noted that in the earlier message Natali Pharm indicated  that the contents of one ampoule of Avastin, in strict compliance  with safety rules, can be used for several patients. In particular,  the medicine should be used immediately after opening the ampoule,  after which it should be thrown out. "If the procedure was not  carried out on the spot, and the medicine was applied for several  days, an infection could penetrate into the open ampule," the report  noted. In addition, the company claims that the drug is not intended  for injection.