Chalk powder as ‘life saver’

Sale of spurious drugs has been increasing causing near nightmare to major drug manufacturers all over the country. Bhagirath Place, located in the Capital’s walled city and known to be the Mecca of fake drugs trade, alone accounts for a revenue loss of over Rs 200 crore. Not too long ago, a health official from a visiting African delegation physically produced samples of fake drugs to his Indian counterpart in full public view. Yet, the patients continue to face the brunt of the fly-by-night manufacturers, paying for with their lives due to the callousness of the authorities.

Huge price difference between the branded and the generic drugs, coupled with complete inaction of the law-enforcing agencies, provides enough incentive to the drug mafia to play merry hell with system. So systematic has the parallel trade become that unless tested at the laboratory, it becomes difficult to differentiate between the genuine and the fake. Be it anti-tuberculosis, cancer, cardiovascular or any other drug/injectables, they all could be coming from a small group of spurious manufacturers engaged in churning out loads of nicely packaged chalk powder.

To stem the rot, the Indian Pharmaceuticals Alliance (IPA), consisting of major Indian pharma companies, set up a task force last year and hired the services of retired police and CBI chiefs like J.F. Riberio, Vijay Karan, Prithvi Nath and R.D. Sharma. A subsequent police raid conducted at six of the whopping 600 shops engaged in the business at Bhagirath Place brought out fake drugs worth crores of rupees. None of the shops was found to be in possession of mandatory licenses; nor were they paying any tax.

Shockingly, one of the main accused, apprehended for possessing huge stocks of fake drugs on August 17 last year, was able to come out on bail the very next day in connivance with the police officials. Gelatin capsules, under different brand names and meant for treating life-threatening diseases, were found to be containing spurious mixtures and chalk powder. Shockingly, all these suppliers have been operating without any fear, right under the nose of a battery of drug controllers and tax inspectors.

It is a well-known secret that a prized two-year posting at the walled city costs nearly Rs 25 lakh to an enterprising drug/sales tax inspector. While Bhagirath Place feeds the entire northern belt, Agra, Aligarh, Gwalior, Indore, Ludhiana, Sonipat and Ghaziabad form part of a major distribution network covering almost the entire country and filling the private coffers of the regulators. Even a most conservative estimate shows that each of the shops in the walled city has a daily cash sales of over Rs 2 lakh. Thus, among 600 shops a whopping Rs 12 crore changes hands everyday making it a win-win situation for all except, of course, the suffering patients.

Ironically, no raids have been carried out since September last year. The drug mafia has begun using ultra-modern packaging equipment, thereby making the task of identifying the genuine from the fake an extremely difficult task. The cumbersome judicial system also comes in handy for the operators who simply close shop after the raid and begin afresh under a new name.

Lucrative as it is, the illegal business can perhaps never be brought to a grinding halt. If implemented, the suggestions of the task force could definitely reduce the increasing intensity to a great extent. Surprise raids must be carried out at the well-known centers. Strictest action should be taken against all establishments showing bogus billing. Manufacturing spurious drug being a serious crime, all existing escape routes should be plugged. The industry is ready to play its part in providing information to the authorities. Ad campaigns and cash reward to informers could be another weapon provided the regulators were willing to crack down upon the mafia.

Whereas falling sales, rising R&D, salaries and overhead costs are making it difficult for the industry to keep its head afloat, NPPA’s price controlling mechanism is acting as a dampener to the struggling organised sector. While the Health Ministry officials cite inadequate manpower as the main reason for their inaction, vested interests of those in the authority are making it easy for the drug mafia to call the shots. Allowing sales of spurious drugs to go unchecked is cancerous to any civilized society. Perhaps nothing could be more heinous than to overlook this rapidly rising criminal activity.

The writer is president, corporate, Nicholas Piramal India Limited