Falsified Medical Product Alert N°4/2020

Chloroquine products: falsified product alert

WHO issued this alert after its surveillance system received 14 reports of confirmed falsified chloroquine between 31 March and 2 April 2020, all identified at patient level. WHO said the products may not contain the correct amount of active ingredient and that batch numbers and dates do not match genuine records. The page was updated on 9 June 2020.¹

Health risk as statedWHO said both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine can have serious side effects, especially at high doses or when combined with other medicines.

Issued: 9 April 2020
Issued by: World Health Organization
Name stated on packaging: Details are in the annex to the alert. WHO said labelled manufacturers may not have produced the products and some labelled manufacturers do not exist.
Countries where detected: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Niger

Batches named in the alert

Listed in the annex to the alert

Advice as stated

Do not use the listed products. Obtain medicines only from authorised or licensed suppliers and check their authenticity and condition. Report adverse events or suspected falsification to the national regulatory authority or pharmacovigilance centre.

Names printed on falsified products are not evidence that the named company made them. Where WHO or a regulator reports the genuine manufacturer's statement, it is shown.

Sources

World Health Organization, Medical Product Alert N°4/2020: Falsified Chloroquine (Update) (9 April 2020)