The Department of Drugs Control Administration of the State government has busted a spurious drug racket in Vijayawada.
The Drugs Inspector has established that certain drugs manufactured by reputed pharma companies are imitated, and manufactured in a manner that would deceive unsuspecting consumers. The department further learnt that the unauthorised dealers are supplying substandard medicines by falsely labelling them as products manufactured by a reputed pharma company.
These counterfeit and spurious drugs would cause severe and fatal damage to one’s health as they are not manufactured by the original drug companies. The materials used in the drugs and the conditions being maintained at the manufacturing facility are of dubious quality, and it is likely that the ingredients can be toxic and can even cause death, said B. Anvesh Reddy, Drugs Inspctor, Vijayawada Zone-IV of the Drug Control Administration in his complaint lodged with the Bhavanipuram police in Vijayawada on September 6 (Wednesday). The Hindu has accessed the complaint of the Drugs Inspector, a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) and other laboratory findings related to the drug racket.
The FIR has been registered against P.D.M.K.R.G. Krishna Murthy, of Lakshmi Padmavathi Pharma at Vasavi Pharma Market Complex in Vijayawada, and N. Kiran Kumar of Vidyadharapuram in Vijayawada under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty inducing delivery of property), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 274 (adulteration of drugs) and 275 (selling adulterated drugs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
It was found that Lakshmi Padmavathi Pharma purchased certain suspected spurious drugs through unauthorised distribution channels without any purchase bills from N. Kiran Kumar, who is also an unlicensed person, and supplied the drugs to various wholesalers.
A total of 24 samples of various products were collected from the recalled stock and all the samples were sent to the Drug Control Laboratory for analysis. Of these, they received analytical reports for six samples and all the samples were declared as being of sub-standard quality. Based on the laboratory findings and verification from the original drug manufacturers, the Drugs Inspector lodged the complaint.
Laboratory findings
The spurious drugs, falsely labelled under the name of reputed companies like Sun Pharma Laboratories and Aristo Pharmaceuticals, were tested in the laboratory. Inspection of certain drugs showed that the capsules did not have any pharmaceutical ingredient inside as mentioned in the composition on the strip, officials said.
Upon finding these samples, the Drugs Inspector invited all the original companies to verify the genuineness of the samples and furnish comparative statements. Companies like Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharma Laboratories, Intas Pharmaceuticals and Lupin sent their representatives and submitted comparative statements by comparing physical parameters of the suspected samples with their original product, and all the companies have confirmed that the products supplied by Laskhmi Padmavathi Pharma are not matching with their original products.
A police investigation is on into the case.
