COLOMBO, Aug. 31 -- Sri Lanka's Health Ministry has suspended a batch of the cancer-treatment drug filgrastim after discovering that individual vials in an imported consignment carried no identifying information, Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr Hansaka Wijemuni said.

The suspension has resulted in temporary supply shortages in both public and private hospitals, prompting the ministry to direct hospitals to obtain the essential medicine through local purchases from private suppliers, he said.

Speaking to the media, Dr Wijemuni said the outer packaging of the imported consignment contained the required information, but the individual vials were found to be completely blank.

"This is a serious defect, and the ministry immediat...