Bengal chemists’ association flag ‘47% rise’ in fake medicines post-Covid | Kolkata News

This comes a day after the AIOCD told mediapersons that the country has witnessed an alarming surge in counterfeit medicines flooding retail markets, a spike of nearly 50 per cent over and above the “estimated figures from the Covid-19 years.”

The traders’ body attributed this rise to a combination of factors, including consumers’ preference for high-discount drugs, inadequate government vigilance, and “lenient” prohibitive laws.

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata on Friday, Sankha Roy Choudhury, the official spokesperson of the BCDA, said, “Post Covid, there has been an increase in counterfeit drugs by 47 percent. The reason is implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Before GST tax policies were different in different states. After GST, any state from anywhere is able to supply drugs everywhere. Most of the medicines which are being seized here are all manufactured out of Bengal – Agra, Delhi, Patna.”

Choudhury explained that prior to GST, varying state tax policies created barriers to inter-state drug distribution. The implementation of GST allowed easier movement of pharmaceuticals across states. “We are really worried and concerned. We want to fight this menace. Recently,144 drugs have been declared as substandard. If you look at the list of the medicines closely, most of it is supplied in hospitals, a rare percentage is sold from our counters. Nearly 60-70 of 144 are manufactured by Paschimbanga pharmaceutical, which supplies to hospitals,” he added.

The BCDA has also appealed to all stakeholders to come forward to fight the menace of counterfeit drugs. “The proliferation of counterfeit medicines is a ticking time bomb, and we cannot afford to wait. We urge the government to strengthen regulatory measures, enhance enforcement, and increase public awareness to combat this menace,” Prithwi Bose, general secretary, BCDA, said.

Prithwi Bose; Sankha Roy Chowdhury, official spokesperson, Bengal Chemists & Druggists Association, Mr. Pranab Ghosh, president- BCDA; Debashish Guha, organising secretary- BCDA; Prodyot Banerjee, admin. secretary- BCDA and Md. Irfan Khan Lodhi, treasurer- BCDA were present at the press conference.

As many as 145 drugs from various companies have failed quality assurance tests. Of these, 52 drugs failed the Central Drug Control Laboratory’s tests, while 93 widely used drugs failed state-level drug control tests.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in Kolkata has identified select batches of these 145 drugs and formulations as “not of standard quality” (NSQ) for January 2025. These include medication5 for hypertension, allergies and nausea, as well as sample batches of Glenmark Pharma’s popular hypertension medication Telma AM and Alkem Health Sciences’ Ondem-4 tablets, used to prevent nausea and vomiting.

These findings are part of the CDSCO’s ongoing regulatory surveillance, which involves collecting and analysing drug samples from sales and distribution points. It publishes a list of spurious drugs on its portal monthly.

In his appeal to all stakeholders to come forward to fight the menace of counterfeit drugs, Bose said, “BCDA is calling for a multi-stakeholder approach to address this issue, including collaboration with regulatory agencies, law enforcement, healthcare professionals and public in general.”

“15% of the total medicines available in the market are fake or counterfeit or illegal which poses a significant threat to public health and safety,” he further said.

BCDA has recently identified several cities as hotspots where the production of spurious and counterfeit drugs is alarmingly high, Sankha Roy Choudhury said, adding that these illicit drugs often originate from unlicensed individuals, while licensed manufacturers may also be involved.

The states’ weak regulatory infrastructure, insufficient testing facilities, lack of a whistle-blower scheme, low awareness, and absence of special courts are barriers to effective action against spurious drugs, he added.

“BCDA urges authorities at both state and central government levels to take immediate action to address this issue, specifically, stepping up vigilance in identified hotspot cities to prevent the production…”said Bose.