The St Joseph Mercy Hospital (SJMH) is now offering medications under its own brand name.
A release yesterday from the hospital said that Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Deborrah Ramsay disclosed that the institution has begun the year of its 75th Anniversary by launching SJMH-branded paracetamol and low-dose aspirin tablets, and will move to include other drugs. Next on the list is a cough syrup.
Ramsay said that when she began her tenure at the hospital she thought that the then 70-year-old institution could raise the level of its service to patients even further by having its own branded drugs. To this end, she enlisted the hospital’s Pharmacy Manager/ Chief Pharmacist, LeAndre Charles to find out how this could be achieved.
Charles, according to the release, said that Chirosyn Discovery, a Canadian pharmaceutical company, was selected to help prepare the first SJMH-branded paracetamol and aspirin tablets.
“We checked Chirosyn Discovery’s background and capabilities and were happy and confident that they can produce these two drugs for us at the standard that we want”, Charles said.
He added, “It’s not only about the launch of products with Mercy’s logo, but it’s also a launch of products that have the drug efficacy and the drug safety that we want our patients to receive. So every patient who will receive these drugs is assured that what is in the bottle and what is on the box is what they will be getting.”
Charles said that the SJMH-branded medications represent a significant step forward for the hospital in light of the international problem of counterfeit medications.
“There is a large
percentage of drugs on the global market that don’t meet the required standards. Guyana is no exception. The volume of this trade is estimated to be US$10Bln. So when this happens, patients suffer; patients do not recover. Having formed an alliance with Chirosyn, we negated the opportunity of having falsified drugs as it relates to these two products. So we are extremely happy to launch the Chirosyn brand along with SJMH.”
Chirosyn Discovery’s Managing Director, Talika Persaud said in the release that the drugs bearing the Chirosyn and SJMH logo have been tested and meet Canadian drug standards.
Persaud described it as a proud moment for Chirosyn Discovery to be able to work with SJMH.
