Medicines being produced with flour, salt, sugar!:Daily Sun

 Medicines, which are produced with flour and salt, are being sold on the local drug market under the nose of drug administration, posing a serious threat to public health. Sources said such medicines are available in the city’s Mitford drug market and unscrupulous traders are using the name of different reputed drug companies to sell their adulterated drug. People are consuming such contaminated
drugs knowingly and unknowingly and developing new diseases instead of being cured, they pointed out. Meanwhile, a mobile court conducted a drive in Mitford drug market recently and seized various types of fake medicines like antibiotics, multivitamins, capsules and tablets of multinational and leading national companies. Talking to daily sun, public health experts said this practice is entirely a suicidal one because many people across the country would be affected by taking such medicines. Prof ABM Faroque, a renowned pharmacologist, said duplicated and adulterated medicines always have the negative impact on human health as such medicines are produced at home or isolated places with flour, salt and sugar. “People will be infected with new diseases after consuming such duplicated medicines. Kidney, liver and human digestive system get affected by taking this medicines,” he added. Dr Faroque said punishment for selling illegal drugs ranges from a fine of Tk 20,000 to 10 years’ imprisonment but it is not enough to stop sale of banned or adulterated medicines. 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 3,000 medicine wholesalers in the area, most of them are involved in such corrupt business. Dr Selim Reza Chowdhury, another public health expert, said, “This is the high time to strengthen monitoring system over the country’s largest drug market, Dhaka Mitford, to stop production of fake medicines, otherwise such medicines will go to different parts of the country.” “People living in different parts of the country will consume these adulterated and duplicated medicines as per the physicians’ advice and they will not get recovery from their illness. They will face more health complications instead of being cured after taking such medicines,” he added. When patients will not get recovery from ailments, they will blame the physicians for it, he said. “If medicines are not safe, then the physicians have nothing to do,” Dr Selim Reza said. He urged the government to take punitive action against the dishonest traders who are involved in selling or producing fake medicines. Selim Barami, Director of Directorate General of Drug Administration, said “A section of unscrupulous businessmen are producing fake 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. People get affected with many diseases after consuming such medicines.” He said, “We sometimes launch drives against adulterated and spurious medicines. This time the officials of drug administration were there when the drive was conducted by a RAB mobile court. After lab test, we found flour, salt and sugar in such medicines.” “Initiatives will be taken to conduct drive throughout the year so that we can ensure safe drug for people,” he added.