Video and photos recorded…’Dubious’ product reliability
Viatris Korea, contacting A…commenced investigation
Controversy is expected over the discovery of a live worm in the blockbuster antihypertensive 'Norvasc (active ingredient: amlodipine besylate)' supplied in Korea by the multinational pharmaceutical company Viatris Korea.
In particular, Norvasc is an antihypertensive drug that many patients in Korea are taking, and this “worm controversy” is expected to hit the product reliability hard.
A, who lives in Daegu, sent the videos and photos of a worm living in Norvasc along with related materials to WikiLeaks Korea on September 21.
According to the informant A, he was prescribed a 3-month supply of Norvasc from a hospital in Daegu on September 2 and received them in a normal way at a nearby pharmacy.
Prescribed Norvasc was stored for a while because there were some previously prescribed medicines left, and then he took it twice on September 13 and 14.
He did not see it in the first two occasions of taking the medicine, but at the third time, found a live worm on the surface of the product blister. A was surprised to see a live and moving worm, and immediately took the video and photos as evidence.
A was prescribed 3 boxes of Norvasc, and each box contained 3 capsules. Among them, a living worm was identified on the surface of one blister in a box.
A said, "I wondered how a disgusting worm could get into the drug blister surface membrane. I am also working in a research lab, but I couldn’t understand how this happened as it seems that an egg has hatched.“
It was confirmed that the Norvasc product in question this time was manufactured in China.
A said, “Is it because it was made in China? It reminded me of cigarette butts coming out of sesame leaves imported from China a while ago. I could just let it slip away without a fuss, but I had to report it to the media because this happened to a drug whose clean management is very important.”
Viatris Korea, which is in charge of Korean distribution, officially filed the case and started to investigate the circumstances surrounding the controversy over the ‘Norvasc worm’.
An official from Viatris Korea said through a message exchanged with WikiLeaks Korea, "We have initiated an internal investigation with the contents of the phone call with the informant A and the samples."
[WIKI KOREA=Cho Pil Hyun, Staff Reporter]
chop23@wikileaks-kr.org
