The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a show-cause notice against Aditya Medisales Ltd of Mumbai, one of the C&F agents of Mumbai-based pharma major Sun Pharmaceuticals, asking the company why action should not be initiated against it for refusing to sell some of the life-saving drugs to some drug dealers in violation of Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 1995.  

The  FDA Thane, Maharashtra, has asked the Aditya Medisales to reply to its show-cause notice within 10 days of the receipt of the notice, failing which the drug authorities will initiate action against the company as per the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.  

The FDA has issued the show-cause  notice to Aditya Medisales on a complaint from Maha-Mumbai Retail Chemists and Distributors Association (MMRCDA) for refusing to sell some of the lifesaving drugs to  Hemraj Mulji & Co, who is a member of the MMRCDA, without any good and sufficient reason, thus contravening the provisions of the Para 18 of DPCO.

The MMRCDA complained to the joint commissioner, FDA, Thane, Maharashtra, that Aditya Medisales, which is based at Mira Road in Thane, is deliberately and purposefully refusing to sell some of the life-saving drugs to another Mumbai-based drugs dealer Hemraj Mulji & Co which is in clear violation of Para 18 of DPCO, 1995.  Para 18 of DPCO states that 'Subject to provisions in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and rules framed thereunder, no manufacturer or distributor shall withhold from sale or refuse to sell to a dealer any drug without good and sufficient reason'.  

Meanwhile, senior FDA officials said that any action by the FDA against Aditya Medisales, would depend on the reply by the company. “We will give them enough opportunity to prove their case”, the official said.