Hyderabad: DCA raids unlicensed godown
Hyderabad: The Telangana Drugs Control Administration (DCA) conducted a raid on an unlicensed godown situated at New Nagole in Uppal mandal under Medchal-Malkajgiri district and seized a variety of medicines worth Rs 3.50 lakhs.
According to the DCA, the godown belonging to Salla Santosh was illegally selling medicines without a pharmacy license. The warehouse facility at Uppal had no TSDCA licence to retail or sell drugs. During the course of the raids, the TSDCA teams found several cardboard shipper cartons containing a substantial quantity of medicines.
The officials at DCA said a total of eight varieties of medicines, including high-generation antibiotics, paediatric syrups, anti-ulcer drugs, multivitamins, and multi-mineral medicines, were detected in the godown during the raid, and the teams seized medicines worth Rs 3.50 lakh. The investigating teams also lifted samples for analysis.
In another raid, the DCA raided Bluten Pharmacy at Pet Basheerabad in Quthbullapur, uncovering the illicit sale of vitency capsules. The capsules, falsely manufactured and marketed under the guise of food products/nutraceuticals, were seized. Over 30 vitency capsules were seized.
The raid was led by assistant director M Vijay Gopal and drug inspectors E Thirupathi and K Murali Krishna, who discovered that the capsules, claiming therapeutic vitamin doses, were manufactured at Knox Life Sciences and marketed by Axenic Healthcare. The seized vitency capsules (multi-vitamin supplement) were found to lack a valid drug licence, violating the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
The manufacturing of these capsules requires a valid drug licence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, complying with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) outlined in Schedule M of the Drugs Rules, and meeting quality standards specified in Schedule V of the Drugs Rules and the Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP).
The DCA emphasised the risks associated with such products, recalling previous cases where drugs falsely labelled under a food licence were declared spurious. Manufacturing and selling drugs without a valid drug licence can result in imprisonment for up to five years.
The TSDCA has been constantly vigilant and alert to detect unlicensed stocking and illegal sale of medicines in Hyderabad and elsewhere. Illegal stocking and sale of medicines is punishable under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act with imprisonment for up to five years, said DG, TSDCA, V B Kamalasan Reddy.