The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has canceled 51 retail licenses and 58 wholesale licenses in the state in the past six months for violation of Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C Act), 1940 based on 2,283 routine retail inspections and 1,689 wholesale inspections.
 
The state regulator had served 365 show cause notices to retail licensees and 165 wholesale licensees following which it also suspended 202 retail licenses and 59 wholesale licenses. There are around 76,000 retail and wholesale premises in the state.

Maharashtra FDA has also launched prosecution in 87 cases related to not-of-standard (NoS) quality drugs, spurious drugs and violation of Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 based on 402 surprise raids conducted across the state.

Based on the surprise raids, it canceled 26 manufacturing licenses and suspended 43 manufacturing licenses after having served 97 notices.

Cases detected during FDA surprise raids amounting to violation under D&C Act included even dispensing Schedule H drugs without prescription by unqualified people to the patients.

Stop sale notices were also issued while the state regulator made surprise checks at drug retail stores and found that pharmacists were absent in violation of Rule 65(2) of the D&C Act which also attracts penalty both under Pharmacy Act for professional misconduct.

Around 6 FIRs have been lodged in cases related to non-compliance like absence of pharmacists and dispensing drugs without proper bills.

The state drug regulator last year also served 2,428 show cause notices on the retailers based on violations of D&C Act like dispensing medicines without prescription, without proper bill and for absence of pharmacists.

Maharashtra FDA had in the past busted an illegal abortion drug racket and lodged an FIR with police at Parbhani in Aurangabad division where offenders used to stock and sell MTP kits in a clandestine manner without a license.

Strips of non-surgical abortion medication were confiscated from the premises at Parbhani and two people were booked under different sections of DMR Act, Essential Commodities (EC) Act and D&C Act.

The state regulator in the past had also detected a unique case where medical representatives of Cipla company connived with wholesalers in forging bills and procuring medicines at discounted rates twice.