Talcum Powder Mixed with Starch Used in Antibiotics Supplied to Govt Hospitals: ToI

Moneylife Digital Team 24 September 2024

Life

The 1,200-page charge-sheet in the spurious drugs supply case, submitted by Nagpur rural police on 20 September 2024, has revealed startling facts. The antibiotics distributed to the govt hospitals were nothing but talcum powder mixed with starch, made in a Haridwar-based laboratory of veterinary medicines, says a report from Times of India (ToI).

According to the report, apart from the shocking supply of fake drugs to government hospitals, the racketeers also rampantly used hawala channels to transfer crores of rupees from Mumbai to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

"The cash was transferred to the racketeers to procure fake medicines, which were supplied across India, including to hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Maharashtra," the report says.

ToI says the shocking case surfaced in December last year after drug inspector Nitin Bhandarkar found that the antibiotics supplied to the rural hospital at Kalmeshwar were fake. "The drug inspector of food and drug administration (FDA) had registered an offence against the suppliers and distributors at Kalmeshwar police station last year. The firms were also blacklisted by the civil surgeon's office in follow-up action. TOI had then highlighted the action taken by the FDA officials."

In December 2023, the state FDA busted a racked and confiscated about 21,600 tablets of Ciprofloxacin 500mg from medicine stores under the Nagpur civil surgeon at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH).

After testing the samples, FDA said that the results indicated a complete absence of medicinal value in the tablets. The tablets used for treating bacterial infections, from urinary tract infections to pneumonia, were distributed in 2022 and 2023 in government hospitals.

According to ToI report, the matter was investigated by Saoner's deputy superintendent of police (DySP) Anil Mhaske and similar cases was registered at Wardha, Nanded, Thane, and elsewhere in Maharashtra against the racketeers.

Mr Mhaske, an officer from the Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre, told the newspaper that the offences were initially registered against Hemant Muley, who had participated in the tender to supply medicines to government hospitals in Nagpur. "Apart from Mr Muley, offences were also registered against Mihir Trivedi and Vijay Chaudhury. It is learnt that Mr Chaudhury was already in jail in another similar fraud case when he was taken into custody by the rural police."

Mr Chaudhury's interrogation prompted rural police to undertake an operation in Haryana after he named one Gagansingh as the supplier of the spurious drugs.

"We had gone to Haryana to raid the location and found a salon there," Mr Mhaske told ToI, adding that Mr Chaudhury later also named Saharanpur-based Robin Taneja alias Himanshu and Raman Taneja.

"We reached the Haridwar veterinary laboratory of Amit Dhiman after the Taneja brothers named him. Dhiman was in jail after being arrested by Uttarakhand STF. He was later arrested in our case too," Mr Mhaske says, adding that the racketeers' bank details and transactions showed multi-crore dealings.

Comments

User

iaminprabhu

9 months ago

SHOCKING the way our DRUGS & FOOD supply chains have been infested with FAKE or CONTAMINATED products affecting lives of people across the country!

Delays in LEGAL JUSTICE FOR YEARS - DECADES and now BAIL IS RULE will further lead downward spiral in life of common citizens!

ramaninv1953

9 months ago

There is a shortage of Drug Inspectors all over India. Even drug testing Laboratories are facing Man power shortage. Government hospitals always call for tenders for the supply of drugs/medicines etc on an annual basis. Rampant corruption has affected the working of government hospitals

Meenal Mamdani

9 months ago

The entire drug manufacturing industry is shockingly unregulated.
What is the Drug Controller of India doing? Just getting a fat salary and perks?
Until the agency that is supposed to be monitoring drug manufacture is not held to account, this will continue and increase.
Part of the problem is also the slow judicial process where the culprits are free for years while the case drags on and on.
We have had financial reforms. Now we must have judicial reforms.
The politicians will never push for them as they are the ones who benefit the most from this state of affairs.