The Uttar Pradesh Chemists & Distributors Association (UPCDA) has written to the Monitoring & Enforcement Wing (M&E wing) of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) that the state is facing non-availability of essential drugs due to continuous boycott of companies by the state unit of the All India Organisation of Chemists & Druggists (AIOCD).

UPCDA, the affiliate of the All India Chemists & Distributors Federation (AICDF), has through letters apprised the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and the state drugs controller of the situation now prevailing in the highest populated state in the country and wanted them to find a solution to the crisis through legal measures.

The trade association and its national body, AICDF, have written to the department of pharmaceuticals of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers seeking immediate intervention of the government to end the violation of the Drugs & Cosmetics Act by manufacturing companies.

While speaking to Pharmabiz, the president of UPCDA, Vibha Shankar Sing, said the boycott of products of major players by the members of the Chemists and Druggists Federation of UP (CDFUP), the state unit of the AIOCD is not an openly announced protest, but a secret and deliberate attempt exhorted by their national body. Following their threat, several major manufacturing companies in the country are not supplying medicines to the members of his organisation anticipating nationwide boycott from AIOCD. Singh asserted that UPCDA would bring this violation by the companies to the notice of the union government and to the general public.

He said, after the Agra meeting of AICDF in last month, he wrote to major companies like Cipla, FDC Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline in Mumbai, Torrent Pharma in Ahmedabad, Apex Lab in Tamil Nadu and Mankind Pharmaceuticals in New Delhi to continue supply to their members. The association has expressed their readiness to work as their stockists in UP provided they appoint them. He has warned the companies that the shortage of life saving drugs might lead to several casualties in the biggest state in the country. A legal notice has been served to Lupin in this regard, he added.

Commenting on the issue, the national secretary of AICDF, Joydeep Sarkar from West Bengal said AIOCD has a secret understanding with IDMA in the case of NLEM products and that is the reason the manufacturers are not supplying their products to UPCDA members. He further said some companies have earlier committed to provide 10 per cent trade margin to stockists and 20 per cent to retailers, but still giving only eight per cent. The Apex Laboratories in Tamil Nadu and Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Pune, have stopped supplying their products to the traders in most of the districts in Uttar Pradesh, hence the state is facing shortage of many life saving drugs.