Chandigarh, June 13 -- Health minister Dr Balbir Singh on Thursday said that Captab Biotech, Solan, the pharmaceutical firm responsible for manufacturing and supplying non-standard quality IV fluid (normal saline) bottles to the Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC) has been debarred for three years from participating in any tender of Punjab government and its security deposit has been forfeited and pending payments withheld. Addressing a press conference at Punjab Bhawan here, the minister said that the company has been debarred for three years from participating in any Punjab government tenders, and all the rate contracts for 11 items being supplied to PHSC have also been cancelled with immediate effect. "The security of Rs.3.30 lakh has been forfeited, and pending payments have been withheld," the minister added. The minister further said that after a complaint from the Punjab government, the central drugs standard control organisation (CDSCO), under provisions of the Drug and Cosmetics Act, has stopped all manufacturing of the company with immediate effect. The action comes after adverse drug reactions (ADR) were observed in a few patients at government health institutions in Amritsar and Sangrur due to the use of normal saline manufactured by this company in March this year. Taking immediate action, the Punjab DHS had recalled the entire stock supplied by the firm. A sampling of said normal saline was undertaken by a joint team of the food and drug administration (FDA), Punjab and CDSCO, New Delhi. The said company had also taken back all the left-out stock after PHSC instructed to recall at their own cost, the minister added. "Besides this, the role of the three labs which initially passed the samples of this company which were later got declared 'non-specified quality' is also under scrutiny," he added....