UCDA vows action against spurious drugs traders of Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 11:

Following repeated raids by Directorate of Drugs Control at various places of Odisha and seizure of large quantities of sub-standard and spurious medicine, Utkal Chemist and Druggists Association (UCDA) today acknowledged presence of such dealers in the state and assured to take action against them.

spurious drugs

Besides, citing the example of Abhaya Healthcare, the General Secretary of UCDA Choudhary Prabir Dash claimed that companies from outside the state are illegally circulating such medicine in Odisha.

“Yes, the fake medicine trade does exist in Odisha. Not all of us are good men. At times the retailers themselves are stocking fake medicine up to 2-3 lakhs and selling them over a period of time. On occasions, they themselves are approaching the manufacturers to procure these sub-standard and counterfeit drugs. To legitimize the operations, they get doctors to recommend these medicines,” confessed Dash speaking to reporters today.

“We are trying all that we can to spread awareness among the members of our association. We are sternly warning them that consequences of such acts would not be good and they would end up in jail. We would certainly take action if we find any specific proof against any dealer. The government should also take action on its own,” he added.

Notably, the 18,000 member strong UCDA recently wrote to its district level office bearers to take necessary measures to withdraw spurious and substandard medicine from the market.

The State Government has also assured action.

“If we receive reports spurious drugs trade, we will take action no matter which company it is. We have done this in the past and we will do it in the future,” said Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.

To keep the momentum going for the crusaders, the Directorate of Drugs Control has managed to seize fake medicine from Kendrapara district after Puri.

However, in the absence of proper market intelligence system and sufficient manpower to carry out large scale raids at multiple places of the state simultaneously, the efficacy of these raids is under question.

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