Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The issue of counterfeit, adulterated, and substandard drugs has come to attention. Many of these drugs have their sources outside Assam and are entering the supply chain without facing proper verification.
Sleuths from the Office of the State Drug Controller sometimes raid pharmacies but do nothing tangible, and that makes spurious drugs glut the market, posing a threat to public health. Some drug dealers and drug distributors are involved in this shady business.
The Kamrup Medicine Dealers' Association recently lodged a complaint with the state Drug Controller against licensed drug dealers engaged in suspicious billing practices. A section of drug dealers provides medicines to distributors and retailers at rates that are below production costs. "A licensed dealer procuring medicines from authorised distributors and manufacturers simply cannot afford to sell consistently below production costs. The only plausible explanations are that the medicines are either sourced from unauthorised, unverified, or grey market suppliers, or that counterfeit or substandard products have entered the supply chain while being misrepresented as genuine medicines. In either scenario, the patients at the end of this chain are the ones bearing the real cost, sometimes with their lives," the association said.
The association alleged that despite handing over a list of drug dealers with suspicious credentials to the state drug controller, no appropriate action has been taken. "The matter is time-sensitive. Substandard or spurious medicines sold through what appears to be an organized procurement network posed a direct and ongoing threat to unsuspecting patients. Every day of delay is a day this pipeline continues to operate," the association said.
In March this year, the Association of Inspectors of Drugs, Assam, issued an advisory notice requesting all drug dealers' associations of Assam to caution their members against any involvement in the distribution, stocking or sale of counterfeit and unverified drugs. Drugs are procured only from licensed manufacturers, importers or authorised distributors after verifying a valid licence. Any suspected, counterfeit, spurious and substandard drug is immediately reported and kept quarantined.
The drug business is a profitable one, leading to the mushrooming growth of pharmacies in the state. Cutthroat competition to offer maximum rebates, even below the set benchmark, increases the possibility of spurious drugs entering the market through some pharmacies. Common people cannot identify which drugs are spurious. The Department of Health in the state is lacking the necessary seriousness regarding this issue.
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