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 Acting on intelligence, the officials of the Drugs Control Administration (DCA) in Telangana recently conducted raids across Inderbagh, Koti, and Hyderabad, and seized counterfeit versions of 'Rosuvas F 20' and 'Rosuvas F 10' tablets.
Sources informed that these drugs, crucial for lowering cholesterol and triglyceride levels to prevent heart-related issues, were falsely claimed to be manufactured by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd in Sikkim.
The raids, carried out on June 19, specifically targeted Ganga Pharma Distributors and Sree Nandini Pharma in Inderbagh in Koti. The officials said a comparison statement from the original manufacturer, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., confirmed that the detected batches of 'Rosuvas F 20' and 'Rosuvas F 10' (rosuvastatin and fenofibrate tablets) were indeed counterfeit.
The DCA special team, comprising G. Sreenivas (ADC, Medchal), V. Ajay, drug inspector at Goshamahal, M. Hemalatha, drug inspector at Gandimaisamma, Raja Reddy, drug inspector at Kamareddy and K. Murali Krishna, drug inspector at Malkajgiri, confiscated stocks of counterfeit drugs worth Rs. 3 lakhs during the operation.
Officials stated that further investigation is underway, and appropriate action will be taken against all involved in the distribution of these spurious drugs, as per the drug act.
This is the second time the officials seized counterfeit versions of Sun Pharma from the market of Hyderabad. In January this year, in a raid conducted at a wholesaler’s premises in the city, they seized counterfeit versions of Rosuvas tablets of Sun Pharma. From the same premises, the DCA sleuths detected Telma H tablets of Glenmark Pharma, Monocef-O 200 tablets manufactured by Aristo Pharmaceuticals and Chymoral Forte tablets of Torrent Pharmaceuticals. Following these seizures, the DCA announced that there were a lot of counterfeit products falsely labelled in the name of popular companies, and they were all circulating in the market of Telangana.
A few weeks before this incident, the officials had seized counterfeit copies of anti-cancer drugs from a godown at Machabollaram. The drive against marketing of counterfeit and spurious drugs in Telangana has been going on for the last three years. Last year, the DCA busted the entry of spurious drug rackets from Kashipur in Uttarakhand and Ghaziabad in UP to Hyderabad. According to sources, the drug racket was using courier facilities to smuggle drugs into Telangana, an effort swiftly thwarted by diligent officials.
Following this raid and seizure of counterfeit drugs, the director general of the DCA, Dr. Shawnavaz Quazim, issued one advisory to the public alerting them of the significant threat to public health. The advisory says that these counterfeit or spurious drugs not only fail to treat the intended diseases but also lead to severe health complications over time. The department of drugs control is actively working to ensure the removal of spurious drugs from the market.
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