Puducherry directs shops, clinics, hospitals to submit lab test reports of each batch of medicines

PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry state drug control department has instructed all wholesale and retail medical shops, clinic-attached pharmacies and public and private hospitals to submit laboratory quality test reports for each batch of medicines presently in stock, as well as for medicines to be supplied in the future.The directive comes after Puducherry CBCID busted fake drug manufacturing units, which sold spurious drugs worth several crores of rupees throughout the country. The investigation agency arrested more than a dozen people, including a former IFS officer. The Puducherry govt has already recommended a probe by the CBI and NIA into the fake drug manufacturing cases as they have inter-state and national-level ramifications.“All the firms are instructed to submit their representative samples from each batch to an approved and accredited drug testing laboratory as per the list mentioned in Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation Website (https://cdsco.gov.in/). 100% batch-wise sampling shall be ensured. No batch shall be released for sale or distribution without compliance as per the quality control requirement,” said drug controlling authority E Anandakirouchenane in an order.He stated that in the event any sample is reported as not of standard quality, all sales, supply and distribution of the concerned batch shall be immediately suspended, and the matter must be reported to the department of drug control without delay, along with details of the stock position and distribution. He directed them to maintain complete traceability records, including batch-wise procurement and distribution details, to facilitate prompt and effective recall procedures, if required.He warned that the department will suspend/ cancel the license of the violators and prosecute them. Accepting the instructions, the Puducherry State Chemists and Druggists Association has sent emails to all pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, urging them to submit lab-quality certificates. Association president M Ravichandran and secretary P Ramesh, in a joint press release, requested people to ‘continue purchasing and consuming their medicines as usual, without any fear, and to safeguard their health’.