The departmental action to be initiated by the Tamil Nadu drugs control department against a notorious group dealing in the illicit sale of medicines through the border areas in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala is getting delayed as there is no sharing of required information about the seized products by the drug authorities in Kerala, says G Selvaraju, director of drugs control, Tamil Nadu.

The delay in initiating legal action and further enquiry may help the culprits to escape from the scene, said the director by adding that he has alerted the district authorities in the south to check the movement of drugs in the area and monitor the situation. The flow of drugs to Kerala through the northern border close to Coimbatore is also being monitored.

Whereas, the drug control authorities in Tamil Nadu and Kerala will conduct a joint inspection in the border areas to thoroughly check if any clandestine business is operated through the borders, Selvaraj told Pharmabiz.

“We are waiting for the reports from Kerala DCA to know about the seized products, then only we can take action and conduct enquiry. We need the batch number and the quantity of medicines seized from the places raided. As soon as the news appeared in Pharmabiz, I contacted the DC in Kerala and he confirmed the seizure. The official communication is going on. We will set out action once we get the report from Kerala drugs controller,” said Selvaraj.

According to him the officials in Chennai and in Thirunelveli in south will inspect all the wholesale dealers’ premises to find out who has supplied the drugs to the racket involved in the furtive sale of medicines. “The source of the drugs has to be identified who supplied it or from whom the illegal dealer purchased the medicine, that we are enquiring now,” the DC said.

Meanwhile, the deputy drugs controller who led the operation in the border areas in Kerala, Revi S Menon said his office will pass on the required information to the Tamil Nadu DC soon after one more inspection at the site is completed, probably on Tuesday. He said that he would send a team of officials to Chennai to find out the details of the marketing company who deals in the distribution of Vovemac Plus.

To a query he said the batch number of the seized medicine, Vikram Anticold Tablet is 438 and of Vovemac Plus, the anti-inflammatory drug marketed by Macro Pharmaceuticals in Chennai is UJMC 1032. But, more enquiries are going on as the batch numbers given on the strips are confusing, he added.

He further said, for more enquiries, the department in Kerala needs the help of Tamil Nadu drugs control authorities. “They can only find out how much quantity of drugs the company in Chennai has supplied and what the stock at their premises is. Also we need the information from where the marketing company got the medicine,” Revi Menon said.