MUMBAI:
The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet again achieved a major breakthrough in taking head on unscrupulous drug dealers involved in selling ayurvedic medicines containing scheduled allopathic drugs like sildenafil citrate and anesthetic medicine -lignocaine hydrochloride.
The drugs used to be manufactured in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and were clandestinely sold in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and UP under the brand name Power Up capsule and Tiger King cream meant to treat impotence.
As per official reports, state drug controllers across the country have been issued circulars about the drugs packaging of which display false label claims of herbal components in the interest of patient safety. Investigations are being carried across the country to keep a check on the supply of the drugs through retail and wholesale supply chain.
The state drug regulator has carried search and seize operations across the country. Maharashtra FDA Aurangabad Division which has done testing for sildenafil citrate which is known as Viagra is prescribed for erectile dysfunction under the supervision of a physician.
Currently, the state has 600 Ayurveda licensed manufacturers, with 50 medium or large scale manufacturers and the remaining small-scale manufacturing units.
Currently FDA has no control on ayurvedic drugs beyond registering manufacturers. A proposal to mandate issuance of sale license for ayurvedic drugs has been taken up for review by the Maharashtra government.
Mahrashtra FDA recently raided and seized spurious drugs worth over Rs.11 lakhs from retail outlets of 13 ayurvedic manufacturers in Maharashtra in contravention to the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 (DMR Act), recently.
These companies have manufacturing bases in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The DMR Act, 1954 is an Act of the Parliament of India which controls advertising of drugs in India. It prohibits advertisements of drugs and remedies that claim to have magical properties and makes doing so a cognizable offense.
The law prohibits advertising of drugs and remedies for inducing miscarriage or preventing conception in women, improving or maintaining the capacity for sexual pleasure, correction of menstrual disorders, curing, diagnosing or preventing any disease or condition among others.
