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In a major breakthrough in the drive against sale of counterfeit and substandard drugs in the national capital territory, the drugs control administration (DCA) in Delhi conducted a surprise raid on the premises of a pharma wholesale dealer and seized counterfeit version of a topical medication, Thrombophob 20gm (Heparin Sodium and Benzyl Nicotinate ointment), worth Rs 2.5 lakh.
The drug Thrombophob ointment is a popular brand manufactured by Zydus Healthcare Ltd based in Sikkim.
According to Kamal Ranjan Chawla, the controlling and licensing authority in the drug control department in Delhi, his office received a complaint from Zydus Healthcare stating that a counterfeit product of Thrombophob was moving in the market of Delhi. Following this, the intelligence cell of the department swung into action, consequently they found that one wholesale dealer named Tarun Kwatra at Bhagirath Place was engaged in the sale of counterfeit Thrombophob ointment throughout Delhi.
Soon the drug controller RK Chawla formed a team of officers from the department to conduct a raid on the wholesaler’s premises. The department also wanted the cooperation of the deputy manager of the vigilance wing of the company, Zydus Healthcare, with the raiding team. Finally, the team carried out the surprise raid on the premises of Kyara Pharmaceuticals, which was run by Tarun Kwatra, at Bhagirath Place at Chandni Chowk.
Sharing information with Pharmabiz, RK Chawla said while carrying out the raid at the premises of the wholesaler, Tarun Kwatra, the proprietor-cum-competent person of the firm, was found to be stocking 1408 tubes of Thrombophob 20 gm (Batch number 1404138 with manufacturing date of 8/2024 and expiry date of 7/2027) which were labelled as manufactured and marketed by Zydus Healthcare Ltd located at Kumrek in Sikkim. The Zydus representative in the inspection team verified the tubes using physical inspection and QR code scan. It was found in the verification that the QR code affixed on the drug label was fake and the date was not matching with the data provided by Zydus. Chawla said the QR mechanism played a decisive role in confirming the suspected product to be counterfeit/spurious.
The raiding team collected drug samples of the suspected product on-site and took the remaining stock under custody under section 22 (1)(c) of the drugs and cosmetics act. The total confiscated products worth Rs 2.5 lakh. The DC said Tarun Kwatra admitted all the facts about the seized product. Under Section 18 (A) of the D&C Act, the proprietor was asked to disclose the sources of the spurious/counterfeit ointment tubes to the officers of the department.
All proceedings of the raid and details collection were video recorded and digital hash values of the footage were documented to preserve evidence integrity. The raid continued till late evening on the day.
Last Wednesday, the Tis Hazari court issued an order permitting the department to keep the seized drugs under custody of the drug control department. According to the DC, the regulatory officers are investigating the matter under relevant sections of the drug act with a view to initiate legal proceedings against the offender.
As regards the ointment, Thrombophob, Chawla said it is a fast-moving drug in the market, and is widely used to treat Thrombophlebitis, a condition in which presence of blood clot causes inflammation or swelling of a vein
The raiding team was composed of, apart from RK Chawla, ADC Deepak Sharma and drug inspectors Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Ronak Kumar Purani , Dr. Shabari Girinath Kala, Akshay Subhash Bavaskar and Ravi Kumar Yadav. Mohammad Qaiser Imam, deputy manager of the vigilance wing of Zydus Healthcare Limited was also included.
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