VIJAYAWADA: More than 60 per cent of pharmacies in the State flouted rules set under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. These shops were found to be selling drugs whose expiry dates had lapsed and even those
that were banned, and operating without certified pharmacists.
These shocking facts were revealed when the Vigilance and Enforcement (V&E) sleuths recently conducted State-wide raids and observed that some of these shops were operating without valid licences, while others had not renewed their permits. They also noticed that the sale of ‘expired’ drugs was rampant in rural areas and Agency mandals.
Much to their shock, Krishna district topped the list as 32 pharmacies were found to be run by unqualified persons, according to the data obtained from the V&E Department. It further showed that 158 shops were operating without pharmacists, 145 did not maintain H and H1 registers, 122 did not obtain licences under the Food Adulteration Act, 1954, 120 did not provide proper bills to their customers, 96 sold expired drugs and 63 others were not registered under the Andhra Pradesh Shops and Establishment Act, 1988.
After receiving several complaints from the public about the sale of expired drugs, the vigilance officials formed 65 special teams for inspection of pharmacies in 12 districts.
To discourage druggists from engaging in such immoral acts, the authorities resorted to holding random raids, thus creating fear among those erring. “Our staff are less in number and inspecting all medical shops at once is a herculean task for us. That is why, we conduct random inspections as part of the systemic improvement programme with the help of the Drug Control Authority and other stakeholders,” an official explained.
Meanwhile, the owners of pharmacies alleged that vigilance officials registered false cases against them and said that most of the claims made against them were baseless. “In our State, there are around 35,000 medical shops and no one was found selling expired drugs. Since we cannot destroy such drugs in open places, we store them. Just like the government, we are also answerable to the public and share responsibility for their health,” PS Patnaik, president, AP Drug Dealers’ Association, said.