Cayo Pharmacy’s Vitamin B Syrup Supply Flagged by Ministry of Health

For the second time a particular pharmacy in San Ignacio has been flagged by the Ministry of Health for the sale of an unauthorized drug. Neurobion syrup, in the two hundred and forty milliliter bottle, has been found circulating in the Belizean market, but investigation has indicated that the quality of the medicine may be compromised. The specific medication is vitamin B in an injectable form, which used primarily by Belizeans as a nerve food. The ministry warns that the product should not be used and that pharmacists are to remove it from shelves and report the suppliers of the unauthorized products. Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero explains:

On the Phone: Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“The items that were confiscated if you will and which triggered the process today where found as a routine drug inspection conducted in the Cayo, San Ignacio area. As any routine check would do, we would normally request for a proof of purchase, where they got it from. The pharmacy where this was found could not produce a proof of purchase; they could not say where they had gotten it from and that just triggered out a series of investigation.  What we would also do is check the labels of the product to see if they match currently with products not only for Belize but the global system as well. And we couldn’t seem to find whether these products were actually genuine products, they seem to be counterfeit because we found secondary labeling, which means that some of them have stickers that were difficult to say when the customer bought the medication and it doesn’t seem to match what we have on file in terms of the presentation of the products on the original bond. So those irregularities are what triggered us to confiscate the items.”