The Central zone division of the Drugs Control Department of Kerala has filed a case against Ocean Medicals, a wholesale dealer based in Alappuzha, for making illegal sales of medicines with the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in the district.

The Department officials said that the stockist had sold huge quantities of medicines estimated at Rs 1 crore on several occasions from April 2008 to January, 2009 to some agencies having no license. The dealer had kept no proper documents regarding the sale.

The assistant drugs controller in charge of the zone, M D Gopalan, told Pharmabiz that the dealer was doing the business without getting a 'written and signed order' from a licensee or a medical officer.

According to departmental inquiry, the agent who had purchased the drugs from the store had no license as the dealer's invoice showed no clear evidence of it. According to the ADC, case was charged against illegal sale and for not keeping the order form. He said the department also wants to use a provision mentioned in the Drugs and Cosmetic Act which empowers that the regulatory authority has the discretionary power to use in the Act.

"Based on this, we are going to initiate another action against the store in respect of national security as there has been some news in the media that huge quantity of medicines from a drug store in Alappuzha was being supplied to Sri Lanka for use of LTTE cadres with the help of some secret agents in Tamil Nadu," he said.

Gopalan added that as per the inquiry he conducted in the Ocean Medicals, in one year period, the sold medicines were the products of Ranbaxy.

T Suresh Kumar, the deputy superintend of police, who is also investigating the case, said there would be an unholy link between the medical representative and the dealer. He said the medical representative is absconding for the last three months and the investigation has been extended to Tamil Nadu also.

K Surendran, assistant drugs controller, Kollam said as per some media report a private hospital based at Sasthamcottah in Kollam district was purchasing large quantities of medicines from the Ocean Medicals at Alappuzha. When he inquired it was found that the hospital had not approached the Ocean Medicals. He said that the wholesaler himself had fabricated documents showing sale of medicines in the name of that hospital.