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 To address the problem of counterfeit and substandard medicines’ surge in the West Bengal market, the All India Drug Control Officers Confederation (AIDCOC) has asked the members of its state branch to exercise increased vigilance among retailers and wholesalers regarding the source of their medications.
Further, the national body of regulators advised the state regulatory officers to scrutinize the sourcing of medicines by pharmacies who offer unusually high discounts on MRPs. AIDCOC finds that the discount pharmacies have a major role in the proliferation of counterfeit and substandard medicines.
Responding to the issue of counterfeit medicines engulfing the West Bengal drug market, the national president of the AIDCOC, Dr R P Choudhury said high discount on medicine prices is the major factor in the proliferation of fake drugs. He said the drug regulatory officers in West Bengal have been cautioned to scrutinise the business dealings of the discount pharmacies there.
Regarding ways to prevent the transit of falsified medicines to West Bengal from north India, Choudhury said AIDCOC can facilitate stronger collaboration among drug control officers in different states including UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, and West Bengal. This will lead to coordinated efforts in tracking and intercepting the movement of counterfeit drugs.
Reacting to the comment of Bihar drug controller that grey marketing companies are behind the proliferation of counterfeit drugs, the AIDCOC president said his association has a strategy which is to enhance the capabilities of drug control officers to detect such falsified medicines marketed by unauthorised companies, improve coordination among regulatory agencies, and advocate for stronger measures to combat the grey market and protect the public from counterfeit drugs.
When asked whether any of the drug control officials clandestinely supports the marketing companies for unethical business by accepting freebies, Choudhury said chances for such unholy tie-up between regulators and marketers are zero, whereas the regulators’ body (AIDCOC) is working for promoting ethical conduct among officers, supporting investigations and advocating for stronger measures to thwart corruption within the drug control system.
“AIDCOC focuses on professional integrity. It prioritizes upholding the professional integrity of drug control officers, which involves promoting ethical conduct, transparency and accountability,” he said.
Choudhury further remarked that since India is a vast country with high density of population, and having a large number of drug manufacturing and marketing companies, a robust system of inter-state information sharing is required. According to him, hundreds of small pharma companies are operating in multiple states, so a system of intelligence gathering technique is required to identify suspicious manufacturing activities across different states. He opined that India can significantly strengthen its efforts to combat the menace of spurious and counterfeit drugs and protect the health of its citizens by involving state intelligence officers and AIDCOC.
He said there are a lot of measures to combat the menace of counterfeit drugs in the Indian market. First of all, all the state governments should strengthen the drug testing infrastructure, implement consistent enforcement of drug laws across all states and union territories, and provide regular training to drug control officers on the latest techniques for detecting counterfeit drugs.
As regards the comments of Nithyananda Koshleya, drug controller of Bihar that the marketing companies get the counterfeit medicines manufactured in some units in Gujarat and Maharashtra, RP Choudhury said this allegation requires verification through official channels, and it has no evidence. Further he said, the drug controller’s statement represents valuable intelligence that warrants further investigation in a positive way.
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