Drug watchdog, police raid Odisha firm for sale of spurious vaccine

Odisha Sun Times Bureau

Cuttack, July 7:

The Directorate of Drug Control Administration (DDCA), Odisha and commissionerate police today jointly raided the residence of Swati Distributors’s proprietor Rajesh Rout for alleged sale of fake/counterfeit vials of popular Pentaxim vaccine (a combination of five vaccines) which is used to prevent diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and certain invasive infections for infants.

DDCA officials and commissionerate police examined the stocks and documents at Rout’s residence.

According to reports, a physician from Baleswar Dr Bijay Kumar Kar had purchased vials of Pentaxim from Cuttack based Swati Distributors on February 22 and had complained that the vaccine was fake/spurious. Dr Kar had also informed Pentaxim’s manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur, Mumbai about it.

The vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur, Mumbai, apart from informing the DDCA at Cuttack, had lodged an FIR at Bidanasi police station following which the DDCA’ s special team, along with commissionerate police, jointly raided Swati Distributor’s premises today.

Rout has claimed that he was innocent and efforts were being made to trap him.

Cuttack DCP Sanjeev Arora said that investigations were on and the truth would come out very soon.

During the raid it came to fore that Swati Distributors is not an authorized agent of the manufacturer to sell Pentaxim though it holds drug distribution license, DDCA sources said.

However, the raiding joint party failed to find any stocks of Pentaxim vaccine at the distributor’s premises.