Several rofecoxib brands, claimed to have been withdrawn by top Indian companies like Ranbaxy, Micro Labs and a few others, are still being freely sold by retail chemists in Mumbai and other metros. This is despite the DCGI's decision to ban the sale of the molecule in India after Merck voluntarily withdrew its brand Vioxx worldwide.

Although DCGI announced its intention to ban the sale of the molecule in India last month, no notification has been issued in this regard as yet. Shortly after the DCGI's decision, Ranbaxy, Unichem, Micro and Juggat Phama announced that they would be withdrawing their rofecoxib brands from the market.

Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggists Association said that although companies including Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddy's, Cipla and Lupin have stopped fresh supply of rofecoxib stocks to the market, these companies have not done much to remove the existing stocks from the market. Pharmabiz could locate rofecoxib brands of these companies in shops around Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

"Even though rofecoxib stocks in the market are less, they are still available. Major companies have done least to remove existing stocks from the market. Only a few companies like Blue Cross Labs have done their bit in issuing notices to the retailers and wholesalers over removing existing stocks from the market," said a senior MSCDA official. However, there has been no arrival of fresh stocks from companies, assured chemists.

This has been contrary to what the companies had told Pharmabiz, when DCGI had announced about the likely ban. Then, companies including Ranbaxy had emphasized pulling back their existing rofecoxib stocks from the market.

As the ban is not notified and there have been no actions from any state drug control departments, presence of rofecoxib brands in the market cannot be legally challenged, said pharma analysts.

At the same time, many mid-size and small pharmaceutical companies are still promoting their rofecoxib brands to doctors. "I would not want to reveal names, but many of the mid-size and small companies are still promoting their rofecoxib brands to the medical practitioners. More than that, still there are doctors who prescribe rofecoxib to patients," said Dr. Mangesh Mehta, a Navi Mumbai-based medical practitioner. According to him, there are a number of doctors in the country, who are not aware about the harmful effects of rofecoxib.