Health ministry orders halt on cloxacillin use |16 January 2023

The press conference yesterday: (l to r) Ms De Comarmond, Dr Louange and Ms Leon (Photo: Patrick Joubert)

As a precautionary measure, the Ministry of Health is asking all patients who have received cloxacillin last week, in capsules, tablets or syrup, in government, private clinics and pharmacies, and who are still using this medicine to stop taking it.

The advisory notice, which came out on Saturday night, is as a result of an investigation being carried out after it was found out that two patients had symptoms related to cloxacillin consumption, one of whom has passed away while the other is admitted at the Seychelles Hospital and is in a stable condition.

The two patients were prescribed the medication by a doctor at the Anse Royale Health Centre on Saturday morning.

The ministry is also asking patients who have taken cloxacillin within the last five days and who have so far not had any adverse effects, to observe their conditions and if they notice the appearance of adverse reactions such as rash, pain, sweating or other symptoms of allergy, to report to their regional clinics.

Speaking to the press at the ministry’s headquarters yesterday afternoon, the chief executive of the Health Care Agency, Dr Danny Louange, said that given the two patients received the medication cloxacillin, prescribed by a doctor, at the Anse Royale Health Centre on Saturday morning, this has prompted the ministry to take the precautionary measure to investigate if the symptoms they had were related to the medication, among other associated factors that might have been missed.

“We are not sure if the symptoms they had were related to cloxacillin or to which type of cloxacillin and as a precautionary measure while we do the investigation, we have asked everyone who are in possession or have received this medication recently to stop using it and to bring it back to the ministry for us to analyse,” said Dr Louange, who noted that the cloxacillin in all forms from all the health centres, private clinics and pharmacies, will be tested by the ministry’s quality control lab.

The doctor said that the health team at the Anse Royale Health Centre tried their very best to resuscitate the patient after he returned to the centre in the afternoon after feeling unwell but  he sadly collapsed and passed away.

On behalf of the ministry, he sent his condolences to the family, relatives, colleagues and friends of the deceased.

The doctor said that the ministry has put in place a call centre for people who wish for more information and that at the time of the press conference at 2pm yesterday, ten people who were in possession or had been using cloxacillin had reported to their respective health centres. He added that the Minister for Health, Peggy Vidot, is leading a team to monitor the situation.

Also present at the press conference were chief pharmacist Lucille De Comarmond and principal pharmacist Lindy Leon.

Ms Leon said that the ministry has other types of antibiotic in stock and urged patients who are returning the cloxacillin to report to their doctor to seek an alternative medication.

She stated that although the cloxacillin in the possession of the ministry is being recalled, its expiry date is in August 2023. 

She added that the medication had been issued to patients three months ago and before any medication is issued to patients, it undergoes a pre-marketing testing which had been the case for the batch of cloxacillin in their posession and which passed all the tests.

The adverse side effects of cloxacillin, which falls within the penicillin group, include rash, vomiting, diarrhea, upset stomach, nausea, gas and mouth sores which may occur.

Ms De Comarmond said that it is very rare for cloxacillin to instigate respiratory problems.

She added that patients who are given antibiotic for the first time are called upon to report to their respective health centres if they get adverse side effects.

She said that given a ban from Europe on the importation of all forms of antibiotic because of a shortage, the ministry has turned to a supplier in India for the importation of such medications.

Patrick Joubert