The Kerala government may soon initiate a major offensive to weed out fake 'health' products circulating in the state with unproven scientific, medical and therapeutic claims.
The Kerala health minister P Shankaran has ordered the state Director of Medical Education (DME) to conduct a comprehensive study on such products available in the market, and submit a report at the earliest. The report would recommend measures to prevent proliferation of such products, current penetration and marketing methods, in-depth scientific study into the claims of the companies etc., sources told Pharmabiz.
The decision comes in the wake of a series of reports on Conybio Healthcare carried by Pharmabiz and subsequently by some leading Malayalam dailies.
Sources revealed that the state drug controller had written to the higher officials on the inadequacies in drug laws to effectively book firms like Conybio Healthcare, and recommended a thorough probe into the inadequacy of scientific proof for the claims by such companies. This followed enquiries from the state health ministry and top officials of health department on reasons for not having initiated action against Conybio.
"We have been monitoring the literature of Conybio available in the state for some time. Nevertheless, we could not find anything offensive to punish and ban their products, as per the drug laws. The existing laws are weak and inadequate to effectively book such firms. Therefore, we recommended the government on the necessity to conduct a through probe into the scientific aspects of such claims and further course of action" TP Gopinathan, Kerala drug controller, told Pharmabiz.
The West Zonal office of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), along with the drug administration departments in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala were contemplating a major drive to book fake medial and healthcare products surfacing in the market through attractive advertisements and multilevel marketing channels.
A few drug enforcement officials had noted that though firms like Conybio could be booked under Section 3 (d) of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act, 1954, for marketing products through misleading therapeutic claims, the maximum punishment that could be awarded was a maximum of six-month jail term and a fine up to Rs.500.
In another recent development, Conybio Healthcare had withdrawn its claims on its products. It also apologized for misguiding the public by making false medical claims on these products following the seizure of its stock by the Food and Drug control Administration (FDCA) in Gujarat and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Maharashtra.
The company had been marketing life style products like sun shade to cure migraine and sunstroke, socks for acidity, pillow covers for spondylitis, palm guards for Parkinson's disease, eye shade for sinusitis, T shirts for high and low blood pleasure, short pants to cure gas, acidity, prostate, piles, urinary problems, ladies briefs for menstrual problems, bed sheets for paralysis strokes and brassieres for breast cancer.
Kerala, one among the top consumer markets in the country, is a hot destination for most of the multi-level marketing companies selling numerous products for various purposes.