Pharmacists who care?

Fairland resident Yvette Wall bought a bottle of Dis-Chem calcium and magnesium with boron softgel capsules from Dis-Chem in Fourways Mall on 5 July.

Wall described that after a week of taking two capsules a day, “When emptying some into my hand, I was appalled to notice tiny shards

of glass embedded in most of the capsules, and one large, loose piece of

brown glass.”

She continued, “On inspecting the bottle itself, I noticed that there was no crack or break. There is a very high probability that there were tiny shards of glass embedded in the capsules which I had already unknowingly ingested over the course of the week. This glass comes from somewhere and could possibly be in other containers in the same batch. As far as I can recall, the tamper proof seal had been intact at the time of purchase. I subsequently contacted my doctor due to my concerns.”

In an email response to Wall’s initial email complaint to the Dis-Chem Customer Careline, national quality assurance manager for Dis-Chem, Christelle Bekker, thanked Wall for bringing this matter to their attention.

She asked that Wall return the bottle to her nearest Dis-Chem store as it would be required for the investigation, and offered her a refund.

Wall was incensed by this stock response to what she viewed as a very serious complaint.

She felt it showed no real care for other Dis-Chem customers who may be affected.

She was also concerned about what may happen to the bottle left lying around at the store. It was at this point that Wall reached out to the media.

Bekker then apologised to Wall, and assured her that Dis-Chem indeed viewed this matter in a very serious light.

“If any issue occurs on a manufacturer’s production line, it is immediately recorded and prescribed procedures are followed to isolate all products that could possibly be affected,” said Bekker.

“The manufacturer was immediately instructed to provide relevant proof regarding the acceptability of this specific batch. No abnormalities or glass breakage was recorded for this line. The manufacturer also inspected retention samples and found no abnormalities. We have been selling this batch for quite some time and have not had any other complaints in this regard. As a further precautionary measure, we have removed the relevant batch of this product from our shelves. This matter is being investigated with the highest level of urgency.”

At the time of publication, the original bottle had been received by Dis-Chem and was undergoing inspection by the manufacturing facility.

Do you think Dis-Chem’s initial response to a matter of this seriousness was acceptable?

Dis-Chem Careline: careline@dischem.co.za or 0860 347 243