RAB mobile court magistrate Anwar Pasa said in a tone of disappointment, “The country seems very much peculiar. Medicines save the lives of people, but a section of dishonest people are trading on those life-saving drugs. They are engaged in earning money by cheating the people through production of adulterated and spurious medicines.” A huge uproar is going on in the country over the adulteration and poison in foods. Drives are also being conducted against these. Amid this, drive is also being launched against spurious medicines. Proofs are also being available as to how the dishonest businessmen are fetching extra profit by adulterating and mixing poison with the life saving drugs. So, it can be said that the medicines, people take to safe life after falling ill eating adulterated food, are also not safe now. Adulterated, spurious and unusable medicines have flooded the country. While a section of dishonest businessmen are producing and marketing such spurious and adulterated medicines. Similarly, another circle is smuggling into the country these illegal medicines from different countries. Despite conducting drives, the drug administration is not succeeding in checking this unlawful business. As a result, the lives of the people of the country are being endangered. More than one member of Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) said high-powered meropenem injunction is being used for the patients suffering from serious disease like cancer. One vial of such injection is being sold at Tk 2,000/2,500. It is learnt that duplicate medicines are being sold across the country. Spurious medicines duplicating all kinds of renowned brands are available in the biggest medicine market at the city’s Midford are. The businessmen are paying a deaf ear to the request and caution made by various pharmaceutical companies. Magistrate Anwar Pasha said “We normally seize spurious, adulterated and expired medicine by launching drive in various markets. Sometimes, spurious medicine making factories are detected. The offenders are punished with imprisonment for the term ranging from 7 days to 2 years.” According to Directorate General of Drug Administration, in last one year (from June 2013-June 2014), 653 drives were launched for recovering spurious, fake, stolen and expired medicines worth Tk 10 crore. During this time, 105 persons were sentenced to imprisonment and fine to the tune of Tk 2,25,96,759 was realised. Selim Barami, Director of Directorate General of Drug Administration, said “A section of unscrupulous businessmen have resorted to forgery over important lifesaving medicines. They are duplicating various generic drugs and marketing those. Those items include anti-cancer, antibiotic, stimulus and hormonal medicines. Many fake and spurious food supplements are being marketed. Human bodies are not benefited, rather affected by those items.” He said “We sometimes launch drives against the adulterated and spurious medicines but such drives are inadequate. For manpower shortage, drives cannot be launched if and when necessary.” As powerful syndicates are often involved in the spurious medicine selling, the offenders return to their illegal business after serving jail term, he added. Monir Hossain, joint secretary of Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association told Kaler Kontho, “Most of the drives were being conducted against medicine shops. We don’t find any justification. Shop owners are not manufacturing medicine. It is manufactured by some medicine companies.” He said, “Generally some medicine companies are importing substandard raw materials from abroad and is selling it to the small and unknown companies. Even some are involved directly in Mitford raw material market. The main culprits for manufacturing substandard and adulterated medicines are drug manufacturing companies.” Drug Directorate sources said besides substandard medicines, some dishonest doctors of hospitals and clinics bring valuable medicines through smuggling from different countries including neighbouring countries. But government does not give approval to that medicine because these are not good for public health. Customs intelligent on July 9 last seized illegally imported foreign medicine worth Tk 2 crore from Shahjalal International Airport. Deputy Director of Drug Directorate told Kaler Kontho, “Shahjalal International Airport Customs authority seized two luggages from conveyer belt of Customs Hall. After searching the customs authority unearthed different types of pain killer and forced delivery medicines. All the medicines are made in Pakistan. Late in last April, Drug Administration during a drive unearthed a large number of illegal medicines from Square, Appollo, Shamrita, Lab Aid, United and Central Hospitals. Those medicines were not imported in a legal way but the medicines were approved for marketing in Bangladesh. Drug Administration sources said more than one hundred types of local and foreign medicines are in local markets which were imported through illegal way. Those are cough, pain killer, cancer, and heart and sex medicine besides some banned medicines. Most of the medicines are coming from USA, Germany, Thailand, India and Pakistan. A resident of Dhanmondi Alamgir Hossain said, “I have been suffering from complex diseases and taking different types of medicines. We take drugs for saving our lives and if there is risk of fake and duplicate medicines then what will we do.” The government should keep medicines free from adulteration at any cost as the situation will deteriorate further if it is not possible to control adulteration. Regarding a latest drive magistrate of RAB Anwar Pasha said on July 9, seven types of fake antibiotic medicines, raw material, label along with Tk 20lakh were seized from a so-called factory housed at number-27/7/A of Topkhana Road in the capital. The factory owner Aminul Islam was sentenced to two years in jail and fined Tk 2 lakh. He said Aminul had worked in several pharmaceutical companies. He left his job 10 years ago and started a fake medicine company. He amassed huge wealth by running the adulterated medicine factory. He has been producing spurious medicines at the present address at the ground floor of a five storied building for about three years. He used to print fake packet and label from the printing press. He was engaged in producing Duracef, Nafacef, Safex and many other costly antibiotic medicines. Former dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Prof ABM Farukh said that the government did not approve those medicines which are not usually required and harmful for Bangladesh. But some corrupt businessmen smuggle those harmful, forbidden medicines into the country for more profit. Earlier, by the end of the last year during a drive on over five hundred drug stores in Mitford area huge amount of fake, impure, unregistered harmful medicine, food supplement, medical device, surgical items were seized from at least 80 shops and warehouse. Expired antibiotics, antihistamine, vitamin, hormone, sex stimulus, pain killer, steroid items were among those medicine. Experts of medicine and public health sector said the name of Dhaka Mitford medicine market comes first when the matter of spurious, adulterated and low quality medicine arises. Among the three thousand medicine wholesalers of the area most of them are involved in such corrupt business. Along with the infamous companies some prominent companies are also selling spurious medicine in the market. Leader of Chemist and Druggist Association Monir Hossain said, “We know some prominent companies although produces better quality medicine for export but they produces low quality medicine for the country. But the administration is not giving proper attention in this regard. General businessmen are harassed due to the untouched criminal groups.” We want transparency in medicine business he added.
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