August 01
You may have to check your medicines twice before purchasing them, as a latest hoax has arrived in the market, Unfortunately, In India, no one seems to care, neither the companies manufacturing the brands of medicine, which are being faked , duplicated to cheat the consumer to make easy money in the name of their brand, nor the Government, expected to ensure delivery of safe medicine to the consumer and control illegal manufacturing and sale of fake medicine.
A Lady from Achabal area in Islamabad (Anantnag) District of South Kashmir purchased a mouth wash from a local medical store in Janglat Mandi Islamabad on the prescription of a doctor.
“I paid the printed rate on the cover of the mouthwash,” she told The Kashmiriyat adding that when she reached home, the cover of the mouthwash came off and behind the front cover, there was another one.
The fresh cover pasted the original of the medicine helped the lady find out that the Medicine costed lesser than what she had paid, the expiry was expanded and was of a lower quality than she was told by the Chemist.
“The Original seal below the newly pasted seal showed 49 Rupees while i was asked to pay 65 rupees, the expiry date on the original seal was Dec 2019 while on the fake seal it had been extended to February 2020,” She told The Kashmiriyat.
“This mindless game (of fake medicines for easy money), has already become both a global and local health menace, though in varying degrees and parameters in different countries.” says a member of Anantnag Chemists and Druggists Association (ACDA).
The lady levelled serious allegations against the Chemist after which the Drug Assistant Drug Commissioner raided the Shop in Janglat Mandi and seized the said medicine from all the Chemists.
The accused shopkeeper upon being contacted by The Kashmiriyat said that he does not manufacture the medicine, but he has been provided the same by a medical dealer.
He said when the incident came into his notice, he immediately rushed to the nearby shopkeepers and checked if the seals had been replaced in all the Mouthwashes.
“Upon checking i found that the fresh seals had been placed in all the bottles of mouthwashes in the bottles supplied to the market,” he told The Kashmiriyat.
The fake drug menace has been hitting the healthcare sector worldwide. According to the WHO(World Health Organisation) ,“a counterfeit medicine is one which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabeled with respect to its identity and/or source. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products and counterfeit products may include products with the correct or wrong ingredients, without active ingredients,with insufficient active ingredients or with fake packaging.”
The ACDA member said that the chemist has nothing to do with it, but this is a clear case of an unholy hand in glove relationship between the one who prescribe the medicine and the ones who supply the same.
They added that concrete action should be taken against the culprits after the matter is investigated thoroughly.
Assistant Drug Commissioner speaking to The Kashmiriyat said that they have seized the medicine and have started an investigation.
“We have also taken into possession the bill of the said medicine and the matter will be thoroughly looked into,” he told The Kashmiriyat.
(With Inputs from Waris Shah)