Drug alert: Novartis' eye ointment Cortiphenol H, 2.5g pack is not registered in Hong Kong and will be recalled.

The Department of Health today instructed Novartis Pharmaceuticals (HK) to recall a batch of eye ointment Cortiphenol H, 2.5g pack with a batch number of 414733 as its registration as a pharmaceutical product expired in December 2007.

Made in Switzerland, the ointment is used for eye inflammation.

The department said there is no immediate safety, efficacy or quality concern with the use of the product but doctors and pharmacists should stop dispensing it. It was registered in Hong Kong between 1987 and 2007 under registration number HK-29800. Registration of pharmaceutical products must be renewed every five years.

Although the tubes involved were imported in November 2007 they were classified as unregistered as the importer did not comply with registration requirements.