Anti-premature labor drug Ritrodine banned

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has canceled the registration of Ritrodine (Yutopar), which is used to stop premature labor.
The move came following the recommendation of the commission in charge of the registration of approved pharmaceutical companies and products, as the medication was found to have serious side effects including cardiac arrhythmias, myocardial ischemia, pulmonary edema, palpitation and tachycardia.
The commission has asked health practioners and health care providers to discontinue using the drug and use other medicines suitable for pregnant women who need to stop premature labor. In addition, it has contacted the authorities to remove the drug from the Saudi market and requested health practitioners to report any undesirable side effects of any drug to [email protected].
Meanwhile, the SFDA recently announced that there are 1,098 unlicensed companies that import medical equipment into the Kingdom.
“The number of local companies that import medical equipment across the Kingdom is 1,679, but only 581 of them are licensed. The rest of the companies import equipment without authorization,” said Saleh Al-Tayyar, vice executive president for medical devices sector in the SFDA.
The SFDA received more than 10,000 notifications about faulty equipment since 2008 and rejected around 1.24 percent of medical imports for non-compliance with the standards stipulated by the authority.
In the Middle East and North Africa region, Saudi Arabia is the second biggest importer of medical equipment after Turkey.