Pakistani deaths from bad heart drugs rise to 69
Jan 25, 2012, 10:25 AM
ISLAMABAD (AP) – A senior health official says the number of people in eastern Pakistan suspected to have died in the last month from taking bad heart medicine has risen to 69.
Saeed Illahi said on Wednesday that an investigation has found that a total of 419 heart patients have become sick from taking the drugs, and that 45 of them remain in critical condition. Many of the patients are in the city of Lahore.
Illahi is the head of the health department in Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital.
The suspected drugs were given free to patients by the state-run Punjab Institute of Cardiology.
Illahi says the government has registered a case against the company accused of manufacturing the faulty medicine.
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