The Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) recently busted a racket of illegal manufacturing and sale of spurious drugs in Ahmedabad. In a raid carried out by the the FDCA officials, the authorities seized drugs worth Rs.2 lakhs from the main accused Jayesh Mehta's residence, which he had stocked without any valid license.

The test results from the samples that were collected during the raid showed 0 per cent active drug ingredients in it. During the course of the investigation, the FDCA officials found that the accused where involved in counterfeiting three leading brands categorised and recognised as fast moving products belonging to reputed companies.

The drugs that were counterfeited and sold to the unsuspecting patients were Duphastone-10 mg (dydrogesterone tablets BP) of Abbott, a leading synthetic hormone used for prevention of miscarriage among pregnant women sold at Rs.354 per strip. Udiliv 300, ursodiol tablets USP, again a leading brand of Abbott sold at Rs.200 for liver disorder and bladder stones; Zifi 200 cefixine tablets IP 200 mg manufactured by FDC limited and sold at Rs.100 per strip.

The state FDCA has already filed an FIR against the main accused Jayesh Mehta for the same as he has been found to be violating Section 18(c) of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, (D&C Act) by manufacturing, selling and distributing drugs without license, stocking drugs without license and selling counterfeit drugs of leading drug brands in the market.

The investigation revealed that the modus operandi adopted for this racket headed by Mehta, an ex-medical representative (MR), functioned by selling three major drugs that were manufactured outside the state without any license. Dr H G Koshia, commissioner, Gujarat FDCA, informed that the accused used to procure the finished products from Agra through a source called Pappu. Later, the consignment was marketed by Mehta through sub stockist, using his previous MR references, to select seven to eight chemists shops in Ahmedabad.

“We will be taking all the possible steps to see to it that all the accused in this case are severely punished, especially since their actions have put the health and life of the patients at high risks. Further investigations are underway to find out the level of involvement of the chemists and sub-stockists in this case, and we assure that strict action will be taken against those who have been found guilty. We do not take public grievances lightly especially, when the actions can have a life threatening effect on patients, we would simultaneously like to warn everyone that we will be strengthening our monitoring system further to ensure that such incidents do not go occur again,” warned Dr Koshia.

Interestingly, it is understood that Gujarat FDCA chanced upon this racket during an ongoing investigation against Mehta who had been alleged to be stocking and selling physicians samples. During the raid, the investigators uncovered a considerable amount of physicians samples as well in his custody along with the other drugs proved counterfeit.