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 The drugs control administration in Telangana has conducted raids simultaneously on five locations of quacks last week and seized illegally stocked drugs worth Rs. 3.45 lakhs.
On the same day, the officials conducted simultaneous raids on five quacks’ premises and in a drug marketing company.
The drug officials said they confiscated drugs worth lakhs of rupees from the premises of quacks, and on enquiry it was found that the stocked drugs were intended for sale at various locations across the state including Mahabubnagar Town, Banjara Hills, Yacharam Mandal, Korutla Town, Jewla, and Sathyanarayanapuram. The office of the director general of the DCA said cases were registered against the quacks.
The team of officials who conducted the raids detected several antibiotics, namely cefadroxil, cefixime, cefpodoxime, amoxycillin, ampicillin, cloxacillin, ofloxacin etc. at the clinics during the raids. They said indiscriminate sale of antibiotics by unqualified persons may have disastrous consequences on the health of rural public including emergence of ‘Antimicrobial Resistance’ (AMR). In one of the quacks’ clinics, the officials found steroids, namely hydrocortisone injections, dexamethasone injections. About the side effects, they said misusing steroids can have serious health consequences, including immune system suppression, hormonal imbalances, muscle and bone weakness, cardiovascular problems, and psychological effects. The indiscriminate use of steroids poses significant risks to public health.
On the same day, the department also raided a medical shop at Jawahar Nagar at Kapra in Medchal-Malkajgiri district, which was operating illegally without a drug license. The officials confiscated drugs worth Rs. 30,000 from the premises. A case was registered against one Danthuri Shiva Kumar who was running the medical shop, ‘Sri Vigneswara Medical and General Stores’, illegally without a drug licence.
During the raid, DCA officers detected unauthorized stocking of huge quantities of medicines for sale. 36 varieties of medicines including antibiotics, steroids, anti-ulcer drugs, analgesics, etc. were found stocked for sale at the premises. Samples were sent to the state drug testing laboratory for analysis.
In another raid the drug control officers seized two products which were falsely manufactured and sold under the guise of food products/neutraceutials. The products are Ferisyn-XT tablets (ferrous ascorbate & folic acid tablets) and Fesozinc tablets (haematinic with zinc and vitamins tablets).
The department officials informed Pharmabiz that the drug control officers in Bhupalpally area detected the product Fesozinc tablets (haematinic with zinc and vitamins tablets) circulating in the market. The product was found to be manufactured by Pregio Pharma Pvt. Ltd in Puducherry and marketed by Rapid Solutions Pvt. Ltd in Chennai as a food product/nutraceutical. According to the officers the products were falsely manufactured under a 'food license (FSSAI license)' and falsely claimed to be food products/nutraceuticals. According to the label composition of these products, they are classified as drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
The drugs that are falsely manufactured and sold under a food license are not produced in accordance with 'Good Manufacturing Practices' (GMPs) and often fail to meet the quality standards prescribed in the Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP). Such products pose serious risks to patients' health and may have severe implications, said VB Kamalasan Reddy, director general of the DCA.
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