Sure, this is the pill your doc prescribed?

Spurious is serious. And, in the world of medicine, it certainly isn''t what the doctor ordered. Here are the facts. One in every five drugs sold in Kolkata is believed to be fake.
According to the World Health Organisation, 35 per cent of the world''s spurious drugs are produced in India. The spurious drug threat is pegged at Rs 400-450 crore in the Kolkata context." T h e most common fakes i n c l u d e antibiotics and life-saving drugs. Now, even lifestyle drugs such as health tonics, fairness lotions and pills for bodybuilding are being faked," informed Gajanan Wakankar, executive director, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association.
The drugs which are being faked frequently are Crocin, novomox, Fortum, Proxyvon, norfloxacin, paracetamol, Cetzine and terramycin. "Chalk dust, talcum powder... practically anything goes into the making of spurious drugs. They are so strikingly similar to the originals that even drug-testing labs sometimes fail to notice the difference," said S. Chakrabarty, a scientist.
"In some recent raids many fake drugs were seized in Kolkata. The government should take some serious steps to unearth such rackets operating in the city," said Nirmal Majhi, spokesperson, Indian Medical Association. "It is alarming that fake drugs are flooding the city.The government should immediately do something to stop it," said cardiologist Hiren Sen. According to the law, those caught manufacturing or selling spurious drugs are booked under Section 420 of the IPC, the Indian Drug Control Act, the Copyright Act and the Intellectual Property Protection Act.
"What''s worse, since faking drugs is not a cognizable offence, those arrested are able to seek bail. Also, anybody can set up fake pharma units anywhere," informed a senior official of IMA. "The existing laws are likely to be amended to make punishment more stringent. As of now, we are working out a joint action plan along with the pharmaceutical industry, state governments and the Centre," said the drug controller of India, Aswini Kumar. "The battle against spurious drugs is a continuous process and we are fine-tuning the sharing of responsibilities with the drug industry and Drugs Technical Advisory Board," said a senior official of the state health department.
subhra.sircar@timesgroup.com