Even as the dispute over drug licence between the Kerala drug control authorities and the members of the QPMPA is on, the drug control officials on last Friday seized drugs worth lakhs of rupees from two hospitals and filed cases against them for violation of 18 C of the D&C Act.

This is the first incident of cases against hospital pharmacies for selling drugs without licence after the High Court verdict of 25/03/2010.

Further, the department is preparing to initiate strict action against wholesalers who have supplied medicines to these hospitals as the DCA had given advance information to the agencies not to supply drugs to hospitals violating pharmacy rules. Officials in the DCA said licenses of these wholesalers will be suspended soon.

Hospitals against which cases have been taken are Chazhikkattu Hospital Thodupuzha in Idukki district and Rajendra Nursing Home, Kozhikodu for not taking drug licences for their pharmacies. The hospitals had been given one week time to apply for the licence, but they did not pay heed to the orders of the department, said officials in the DCA.

As per the new amendment, the violators of 18 C are liable to undergo 5 years imprisonment in jail.

Chazhikkattu hospital is owned by, Dr Joseph Stephen, the immediate past president of QPMPA and the present vice-president of its national committee. As per the direction of the Assistant Drug Controller of Eranakulam, the drug inspector of Idukki A Saju and drug inspector in the intelligence branch of the department, Jayan Philip, have inspected the hospital and seized drugs worth Rs.2 lakhs and later produced them before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Thodupuzha. The drug inspector Saju said 12 varieties of medicines were included in the seized items and out of which five had no purchase bills. According to the drug control officials, the next step is to go for sealing the pharmacy.

Chazhikkattu hospital is one of the leading speciality hospitals in Idukki district with special attention on orthodontic treatment. The law enforcing authorities have not fully taken away the medicines from the hospital's pharmacies as it is an 800 bedded hospital with IP facilities. Besides the general doctors, 16 specialist doctors are working in the hospital. It runs one pharmacy and four selling counters.

In Kozhikodu, drug inspector in the special intelligence branch of the DCA, Shaji M Varghese, drug inspector of the Intelligence wing, Benny Mathew and drug inspectors of Kozhikodu, P Harish Kumar and Mohammed Salex have led the operation. They have seized drugs worth Rs.1 lakh and produced them before the judicial first class magistrate court in Kozhikodu. Shaji Varghese said they have confiscated 50 varieties of drugs from the hospital and purchase bills issued by the companies were seized in order to take action against the wholesalers for having supplied the medicines to pharmacies having no drug licence.

When contacted the QPMPA office-bearers, they said they would fight the case in the court. Where as Dr M A Koya, president of the QPMPA, Kerala branch and the MD of Koyas Hospital, Kozhikodu, which also was served a notice by the department for violation of the Act, said he would follow as per the court's new judgment. His association has again approached the high court against the move of the DCA.