Beware. The drugs you may be buying next time need not be genuine. There are duplicates or fake drugs even for popular and well-known brands like Cifran 500mg, lifesaving Rhoclon vials, painkiller Nise and other basic drugs. It will be difficult to distinguish the fake from the real, going by the samples seized by the Drug Control Administration (DCA) officials in Andhra Pradesh.

In a statewide raid, DCA officials seized duplicate vials of Rhoclon anti-D injection, from medical shops in Hyderabad, Srikakulam, Guntur, Vijayawada and Karimnagar districts. The injection costing Rs 2,600 per vial of 300mg is used to correct mismatch of blood and is being manufactured by a Thane-based company, Bharat Serum. The source of the fake vial was found to be a firm in Chennai. Earlier, the officials seized spurious stocks of Cifran 500 mg, the popular antibiotic manufactured by Ranbaxy, from a shop in Eluru, near Vijayawada.

The Drug Control Administration has appealed medical stores to get their stocks only from authorised distributors and asked the people to insist on bills when they buy any drugs so that action can be taken against medical stores if the drugs are spurious or substandard. It also asked the print media and the TV channels not to accept advertisements of drugs that violate the Drugs and Cosmetics Act,1940. The media is also liable for punishment for violation of the Act.

The Act prohibits advertisement of any drug that "directly or indirectly gives a false impression regarding the true character of the drug, or makes a false claim for the drug, or is otherwise false or misleading in any material particulars."

P Ananthasayanam Reddy, Additional Director-General, Drugs and Copyright, said the Act covered 56 diseases and disorders for which no manufacturer or distributor should claim a cure. These diseases include AIDS, asthma, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, heart diseases, insanity, leprosy, obesity, TB, sexual disorders, among others.

In spite of that, manufacturers had been advertising in local and national newspapers and TV channels, claiming cure for those diseases. Reddy said the media should strictly follow the guidelines while accepting advertisements. He said 43 cases against magic remedies had been registered so far.

D Hanumantha Rao, Director, Drug Control Administration, Andhra Pradesh, said the Department had to file cases in the court every time a violation is detected and it had no powers to prosecute the culprits directly. A lot of time was being wasted on litigation, he said. He also asked the media to suggest measures and educate the people on the issue.

In its ongoing raids, DCA officials seized strips of Cifran 500mg, an antibiotic, manufactured under the Ranbaxy brand from Vasavi Medical Agencies, Eluru. The strips, costing Rs 89.40 each, had been distributed by Mahashwari Corporation at Narasaraopet. The manufacturer is yet to be identified.

According to Venkat Reddy, Asst Director, DCA, samples of the strips were sent to the Ranbaxy Lab which had confirmed that it was not their product. Drug inspectors were checking the stocks in all the shops in the state. It was possible that the spurious strips might be sold throughout the country, he said.

The officials effected a massive haul of Sahaja Bust Cream, widely advertised even in the national dailies, from Master Herbs Pvt. Ltd, Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad. The cream available in 20gm, 40gm and 60gm tubes, are manufactured by Bush Pharmacos at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. A 20gm tube is sold at Rs 199. The officials seized stocks worth over Rs 1 lakh.

The officials also raided the premises of Bharat Laboratories, Habsiguda, and also the residence of its owner, C Chandrasekhar Reddy, and seized items of drugs for which the company had no manufacturing licence. The seized drugs include 1,700 loose unlabelled tablets and Ephridin tablets used for asthma. In another case, the officials seized D Zyme syrup manufactured by Durga Pharmaceuticals, Hyderabad, whose licence had expired. The syrup is being recommended for digestion. Besides, the officials also found 11 drugs, manufactured by even some well-known companies, to be of inferior quality.