TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Licences of eight pharmacies are suspended while 60 others issued show cause notices in an ongoing drive by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) against Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules 1945 violation.
“We are taking strict action against the retailers found violating various provisions of this Act and Rules,” FDA Director Salim Veljee said.
The action was taken during the first five months of this fiscal year wherein FDA sleuths conducted 312 inspections among whom 45 others were left with warning. The drive is continuing in the other parts of the State.
“Not all the violators were found involved in selling psychotropic substances without prescription, but they were involved in other violations like running the pharmacy without pharmacist, not maintaining relevant statutory purchase and sales records for schedule or prescription drugs, billing irregularities like not recording proper names of the prescriber or patient details on the cash memos, stocking of expired drugs and not removing from the shelves and others,” he explained.
The FDA asserted that no pharmacy, situated in the coastal belt are granted licence to store or sell medical narcotics drugs. “But they are permitted to stock scheduled and other prescription drugs under retail drug licences. These drugs cannot be sold without registered doctor’s prescription,” he quickly added.
An intensive inspection drive across the State including the coastal belt will begin in the next few days to determine there is no violation. Herald, in its last week’s edition had reported that anti-narcotics cell of the Goa police established nexus between pharmacies and drug peddlers as in majority cases controlled drugs like amphetamine, ketamine, morphine and pethidine are sold in the tourist-dominated beach belt without prescription.
Veljee has assured that pharmacies situated along the coastal stretch are thoroughly checked to ensure they don’t double up as narcotics pushers. He said that scheduled drugs are allowed to be sold under the strict monitoring of the FDA with only 45 wholesale and retail sellers permitted to store and sell the scheduled drugs, on prescription of a doctor.
During the last financial year, 558 inspections were carried out of which licenses of 22 errant retail outlets – including six in the coastal belt – were suspended and 130 were issued show cause notices while 92 retailers were warned.
Meanwhile, the ANC and the narcotics control bureau have started their independent investigations about the possibilities of narcotics being sold along the coastal stretch. A police source said they are planning watertight strategies to battle against the drug trafficking this tourist season.
