Nagpur hospital halts two paracetamol batches, recalls 50,000 tablets

The administration of Nagpur Government Medical College and Hospital and its Super Specialty Hospital has immediately stopped the use of nearly 50,000 paracetamol 500mg tablets that were being given to patients. The action followed a complaint about two batches of the tablets made by Curewell Healthcare Private Limited.

The hospital administration has directed the pharmacy and all departments to recall the medicine and deposit it at the medical store. In a letter issued by the medical college's medical store in-charge, use of batch numbers CHPLT486 and CHPLT487 was ordered to be stopped at once. Both batches were manufactured in July 2025 and have an expiry date of June 2027.

All concerned departments and wards of the hospital have been clearly told to immediately separate paracetamol from these two batches and return it to the medical store, with 24 hours given to do so. The letter also states that if medicine from this batch is found in any department or ward after the deadline, the responsibility will lie with that department.

While taking back the medicine, a certificate is also being obtained from the sister in charge of each ward, stating either that the ward does not have medicine from this batch, or that whatever stock was there has been returned and deposited.

It is reported that around 50,000 paracetamol tablets had been sent to the hospital's pharmacy and various departments for distribution to patients. After the ban, all this medicine will now be deposited back at the medical store. Stock present in the hospital's wards, OPD and other patient-related areas is also being checked as part of this process.

Questions have been raised earlier too about medicines made by Curewell Healthcare. The Maharashtra FDA's Standard Quality Alert lists batch CHPLT115 of Parasave 500, which failed to meet standards on testing. Before that, an April 2025 state lab alert also found batch CHT23725 of the same company's paracetamol tablets to have failed a quality check.

In samples tested at the Maharashtra FDA lab in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, light brown uneven spots were found on the surface of the tablets, and the sample did not meet the required standard. In addition, a November 2023 CDSCO drug alert also found batch CHT22352 of the same company's telmisartan 40mg medicine to have failed testing.