In a major investigation drive, the Karnataka drugs control department's enforcement wing has filed five prosecution cases in the Court against breach of sales rules of drugs by pharmacy outlets.

The department has issued 177 show cause notices for various violations and suspended 74 sales licenses in addition to cancellation of 35 sales licenses.

Of the prosecution cases filed in the Court earlier, seven were disposed and 5 were convicted. The ten complaints received from the public are also being investigated, according to Dr BR Jagashetty, Karnataka Drugs Controller.

As part of its mandatory surprise inspection drive, the enforcement wing has seized samples of drugs at random from both manufacturing units and pharmacy outlets. At the drug test laboratory, a total of 243 samples were analyzed in the last month of which seven were declared not-of-standard quality. The Department is now carrying out investigations on these drugs.

The state has a total of 22,295 pharmacy outlets, 172 blood banks and 229 manufacturing units. In April, the enforcement officers carried out 1,392 inspections on sales premises, six blood banks and 23 inspections on manufacturing units.

The regular inspections will keep both the manufacturing units and sales outlets on toes and dissuade them from indulging in any unethical practices. These include sale of Schedule H drugs without prescription, storage of expiry dated drugs along with non expiry date medicines. There are also cases where pharmacy outlets are run by non pharmacy graduate or diploma holder. These are serious violations of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.

Unless constant vigil is provided on the manufacturing units and the pharmacy outlets, the State would not have been recognized for its quality of drugs and seizure of spurious and not- of-standard quality drugs, informed Dr Jagashetty.