In the wake of the present expired drugs scam that plagued the entire pharma industry in Tamil Nadu, the Industry Division of the Indian Pharmaceutical Association plans to conduct a Panel Discussion on ‘How to Handle the Expired Drugs’. The programme will be conducted in Chennai in the first week of next month.

Apart from experts in the industry, the discussion will be attended by senior officials from the departments of drugs control and pollution control board from southern states of the country, said J Jayaseelan, secretary of the Industrial Division, IPA.

Jayaseelan was elected to the post of Secretary to Industry Division in the national executive committee meeting held in Mumbai on last Saturday. Dr Kaushik Desai is the new president of the Division.

“We want to educate the public as well as the people in the industry and the trade. Even the manufacturers are not fully aware of the latest technology emerging in the industry. There are so many ways to handle the expired drugs. The recent issue has maligned the dignity of the industry and we are trying it not to recur. The manufacturers and the management of the industrial firms have to be trained and updated with the latest developments happening in the technology,” Jayaseelan said.

Prior to the experts’ discussion, there will be a symposium on the same subject where in representatives from pharma industries, wholesale distributors, retailers, faculties from pharmacy colleges and regulatory staffs will participate.

Since the subject has relevance at present, the participants can suggest ways and measures on how to handle the technology in the industry and how to recall the date expired drugs from circulation for destruction. Further to this, IPA will conduct training classes for people engaged in the drug business about the various methods of handling drugs and destruction of the date expired.

According to Jayaseelan, the secondary aim of conducting the symposium and the upcoming training classes is to educate the small and medium scale manufacturers.

In Tamil Nadu more than 400 SME units are functioning, but they are unable to train themselves or their staffs on the various methods of technology, not only for destruction purposes, but also for development of new drugs. So these initiatives of the IPA will help them attain knowledge based resources to benefit their business also. IPA will start such programs in other states too shortly, he said.