Karunanidhi urges tougher action against spurious drug makers

in a move to wipe out the menace of illegal drug trade across Tamil Nadu, the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi instructed senior officials of Health and Police departments to take severe action against all those occupied in the manufacturing and distribution of expired and spurious drugs."The Chief Minister asked officials to deal firmly with defaulters-- medical firms as well as medical shops selling such drugs or other inter-state gangs and take stringent action against them," a state government release said.

The authorities cracked the whip following the demise of a three-year-old girl in the city after consuming an expired drug.

Stringent measures urged to curb easy movement of fake drugs
In a high profile meeting attended by the top brass of the government, the chief minister took stock of the situation and laid stress on stringent measures to unearth and bust the dubious rackets flourishing in small and big towns of the state.

Manufacturing and trading in adulterated and substandard drugs continue to pose a major threat to public health, and Karunanidhi expressed the urgent need to create an awareness among the public on the issue.

Taking a tough stand he further stated that no leniency will be displayed for anyone found violating the rules. The defaulters will be levied a penalty of life imprisonment or a maximum fine of Rs 10 lakhs.

Health Secretary V K Subburaj stated, “Further, the police should find any inter-State nexus in this regard. Steps would be taken to cancel the licences of the pharmaceutical outlets which sell spurious drugs, and life sentence will be imposed on such persons.”

Special teams to conduct raids
Following the official nod from the chief minister, 25 special teams have been constituted to conduct raids across the state.

Officers of the civic body have been alerted to monitor the movement of pharma products across the city. About 15 major stockists are now under civic body’s scanner.

“Though controlling the drugs and verifying the expiry dates are solely handled by the Controller of Drugs, the civic body’s health department will look into the issue under the Public Health Act,” an official said.

Arrests in connection with illegal medicines
Seven persons in connection with repackaging and selling expired drugs were arrested in Chennai yesterday.

Two of the accused confessed to picking discarded drugs from the garbage dumping yard at Kodungaiyur and then selling them to medical stores after re-labeling them with fake expiry dates.

The arrested were Sumitha Rani (29), her mother-in-law Jagadhambal (50); Vijayakumar and Kirubakaran, employed in a pharmacy at Muthamizh Nagar in Kodungaiyur; agent Thambirajan (50) of Choolaimedu; Govindan (28) of Koyambedu; Vijayakumar (34;, Ramakrishnan (35) of Choolaimedu; and Kirubakaran (30) of Surapet near Red Hills.

The Drug Control Authority of Tamil Nadu carried out surprise raids in 300 pharmaceuticals consisting of medical shops and other small companies across the State. Two shops were sealed in Chennai.