In a startling disclosure, the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has found that many government medical facilities are receiving fake drugs from suppliers. The agency uncovered the racket after a week-long nationwide drive, and now believes it involves all pharma sectors — companies, chemists and hospitals.
As part of the drive, the CBI on Thursday arrested the proprietors of two pharmaceutical companies in Nagpur for manufacturing adulterated and spurious medicines.
The arrests were made following searches conducted by the CBI at various pharmaceutical companies and hospitals in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Nagpur, Pune and Bhopal from where samples of drugs were taken and sent for analysis. The CBI has also registered four cases in Delhi and Chennai against suppliers of spurious medicines.
CBI sleuths nabbed Gurbachan Singh and Navin Gadekar, proprietors of JP Herbal Pharmacy and Nalini Ayurvedic Company, respectively. “When we tested the drugs, it was found that the medicines were adulterated and spurious,” said Rishiraj Singh, CBI joint director (western region). “The medicines collected are ones prescribed for common flu, cold, fever, headache and acidity,” he added.
Samples of 23 different types of medicines from 14 manufacturing companies have been collected and sent to the laboratory for further chemical analysis. Searches were also conducted at the office of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) at Sion. CGHS is the central distribution point for all 28 central government dispensaries across the city.
CBI sleuths have smelt the presence of a large-scale syndicate in the business of producing sub-standard drugs. “This needs to be probed by multiple agencies as we have raided only central government hospitals and chemists. We suspect this is a larger racket,” said Singh.
During the surprise checks, the CBI found that, at many places, spurious drugs, particularly Ayurvedic medicines, were being manufactured without a license from the competent authority. “It was also found that expired medicines are being supplied to CGHS dispensaries and government hospitals. The drawn samples have been sent to various regional drug testing laboratories. Further action will be taken on receipt of these reports,” said a senior CBI officer.
The rest of the eleven cases, registered in Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi, pertain to pilferage and adulteration of petroleum products.
“We have so far carried out 85 surprise visits to check adulteration of petroleum products. These have been carried out along with the PSUs. The parameters of checks included density of petroleum products, stock verification, besides practices like diversion of petroleum products and black marketing of LPG gas,” said a senior CBI official.
