'Anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and other drugs suspected to be spurious were seized from the raid carried out at the firm.'
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) in a joint operation with the Drugs Control Directorate, West Bengal, seized 'spurious' drugs worth Rs 6.6 crore during a raid at a wholesale firm in Kolkata and arrested the company's owner in connection with the case.
"Further investigation into the matter is ongoing," the Union health ministry said on Tuesday, adding that anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and other drugs suspected to be spurious were seized from the raid carried out at the firm -- Care and Cure For You.
"The drugs, labelled as being manufactured in various countries, including Ireland, Turkey, Bangladesh and the United States were found without any supporting documents to prove their legitimate importation into India," the ministry said.
The ministry added that the investigating team also discovered several empty packing materials, further raising concerns over the authenticity of the seized products.
The Drugs Inspector of CDSCO's east zone wing arrested the proprietor of the wholesale firm, who has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by court.
The action comes after Union Health Minister J P Nadda in August announced that the CDSCO, in collaboration with state drug controllers (SDCs), had undertaken over 300 enforcement actions after carrying out risk-based inspections of 400 drug manufacturing facilities till July 2024.
These inspections included facilities selected for inspection based on the frequency of not of standard quality (NSQ) drug reports, lodged complaints, and the significance of their products.
"Raids and seizures are conducted only after thorough information via tip-offs, complaints and prior investigation," a member of the drugs control department said on the condition of anonymity.
The action comes even as the apex drug regulator had found select batches of two drugs as spurious and listed 111 other drugs and formulations as NSQ in its drug alert for November 2024.
As part of the continuous regulatory surveillance process, the CDSCO picks drug samples from sales or distribution points, analyses, and displays a list of spurious drugs on its portal on a monthly basis.
Through this process, the CDSCO has found 21 samples of spurious drugs and 729 samples of NSQ drugs between January and November 2024, according to data from the regulator's drug alerts.
The regulatory body has not released the total number of drug samples tested since March 2024.
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