The Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) recently busted two ayurvedic clinics selling combination of allopathic and ayurvedic drugs for various aliments in a raid carried out in two separate areas in Ahmedabad. The Gujarat FDCA seized drugs worth Rs.10,30,000 from the two clinics situated in Bapunagar from the eastern part of Ahmedabad and Drive-in Road from the western part of Ahmedabad.

During the investigation, the officers found 1600 pouches of drugs without any label addressing aliments like diabetes, joint pain, de-addiction etc. In a preliminary test conducted on the de-addiction drug confirmed that the owners of the clinics Dr Raman Patel and associate doctor Arpita Shah who being an ayurvedic practitioners were dispensing combination of allopathic and ayurvedic medicines to the patients coming for the treatments of de addiction.

According to Dr H G Koshia, commissioner, Gujarat FDCA, “During our prima facie investigation, we found that these two individuals were distributing the so-called drugs of questionable standards in a sealed aluminium pouch containing a yellowish powder to their patients. In this case when the test was done on a ayuvedic de-addictive drug, the results showed that it had contents of disulfiram an allopathic drug in the powder.”

Disulfiram is used as a conditioning treatment for alcohol dependence and when taken with alcohol, the drug causes many unwanted and unpleasant effects, fear of which is meant to condition the patients to avoid alcohol. It is a prescription only allopathic drug which can have dangerous side effects like flushing, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and sometimes if administered carelessly even heart attack.

Dr Koshia further informed that since the doctors where found to be dispersing mixed combination of allopathic drugs in the pretext of giving ayurvedic drugs to the patients they have not only committed a criminal offence under the Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act but have also risked the life of patients by administering a banned combination drug to them. The drug inspectors found that these centres were selling a combination of disulfiram tablets after mixing it with some ayurvedic substances, which is dangerous and an offence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C) Act.

The authorities have already sent samples of the seized drugs for test analysis to the food and drug laboratory in Baroda to get final confirmation from the government analyst on the safety of the drugs. Following which the Gujarat drug authorities will be taking steps to prosecute the offenders under the D&C Act.

This is the second raid that the Gujarat FDCA has carried out in the last two months wherein they have busted and recovered sachets of misbranded and spurious disulfiram tablets.