The Punjab health department has issued an instant withdrawal of the Betadine ointment gel from all the government health centres across the state after it was found ‘to be substandard’ during quality tests routinely conducted by the central and state drug inspectors.

The sample of the said drug was taken on January 24, this year, and test results were received on Monday.

Soon after the test results, the Punjab health department issued an SOS to isolate and stop the use of the ointment gel.

“As per the lab report, Ointment Povidone USP B.no O14004A date of manufacturing 9/24, date of expiry 8/26 has been declared ‘ Not of Standard Quality’. Please withdraw the same from use and isolate them,” reads the SOS message, accessed by HT, to the respective districts.

Health officials have directed all district and block-level health officers to immediately remove the drug from their inventories.

The ointment gel was manufactured in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, a major pharmaceutical hub.

Last month, the department had to recall an IV fluid after many pregnant women in Sangrur fell ill.

As per the health department sources, Punjab System Health Corporation (PSHC), which purchases all the medicines for the health department, conducts quality tests before releasing them to health centres.

PSHC director procurement Dr Pawanpreet Kaur did not respond to repeated calls and messages.

Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh said, “We are committed to providing good quality medicines to people of Punjab. When the IV fluid caused reactions, we immediately recalled it. We have a state laboratory in Kharar to check the quality of medicines, and routine checking will continue by our department.”