India makes arrests in national swoop on illegal medicines
21-May-2010
Two pharmaceutical company owners have been arrested in India on charges of manufacturing adulterated, spurious and substandard medicines after raids on more than 60 properties around the country.
The operation also found evidence of spurious and expired medicines being supplied to government-run hospitals, clinics and health schemes, and has led to six cases being taken forward for legal action.
The operation was carried out by India's Central Bureau of Investigation
with the help of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation between
May 12 and 19.
Enforcement agency officials looked for evidence of a range of illegal activities, such as supply and manufacturing of spurious drugs, sale of expired medicines, supply of spurious drugs through government channels and manufacturing of medicines without a licence.
Samples of 23 different types of medicines from 14 various manufacturing companies were collected and sent to the laboratory for analysis.
The two company owners are Gurbachan Singh the proprietor of J P Herbal Pharmacy and Navin Gadekar who owns Nalini Ayurvedic Company.
A statement issued by the CBI yesterday indicated that traditional Ayurvedic medicines are particularly prone to being made without a license.
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