MUMBAI: Food And Drug Administration (FDA) minister Narhari Zirwal, while admitting that some local companies from states such as Uttarakhand had been found to be involved in the counterfeit medicine racket in Maharashtra, announced a joint committee of deputy commissioner of police (DCP)-level officers and FDA officials to probe the racket.
Ambadas Danve, Shiv Sena (UBT) politician and leader of the opposition in the legislative council, on Thursday raised the issue of ‘bogus’ medicine being supplied by non-branded companies from other states. Danve pointed to the media reports on spurious medicines being found at several stores and also handed over some medicines for testing to the chairperson of the legislative council.
Zirwal informed the house that of the 979 samples of medicine given for testing from November 2022 to October 2024, only 11 were found fake, and of the seven accused persons involved in this, five were arrested. The minister added that the labels of the spurious medicines carried the addresses of companies in Uttarakhand, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, and the investigation showed that such companies did not exist at the given addresses.
In response, Danve alleged that FDA officials had not taken samples of the dubious companies for testing and instead used samples from renowned branded companies so that the test reports did not show the true picture of the quality of medicines in the market. “Some companies from other states are running bogus medicine rackets in Maharashtra,” he reiterated. “These companies do not use the required components in a particular medicine or use a lower percentage than required, rendering the medicines less effective and forcing people to buy more of them to be cured. In some cases, talcum powder has been found in the samples.”
{{/usCountry}}In response, Danve alleged that FDA officials had not taken samples of the dubious companies for testing and instead used samples from renowned branded companies so that the test reports did not show the true picture of the quality of medicines in the market. “Some companies from other states are running bogus medicine rackets in Maharashtra,” he reiterated. “These companies do not use the required components in a particular medicine or use a lower percentage than required, rendering the medicines less effective and forcing people to buy more of them to be cured. In some cases, talcum powder has been found in the samples.”
{{/usCountry}}Zirwal admitted that a counterfeit medicine racket existed in different districts, and companies from other states were involved in it. “Earlier investigations of fake medicines found that a big racket exists across cities such as Thane, Bhiwandi and Latur, and links have been found to companies from states like Uttarakhand,” he said. “We will set up a joint committee of DCP-level police officers and FDA officials to probe the racket.”
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