Pune: The Vishrambaug police have registered a case of cheating and forgery against five pharmacy shops located in Sadashiv Peth, Kolhapur and Mumbai for allegedly selling counterfeit drugs. Inspector Arun Ghodke of Vishrambaug police said, “FDA inspector Krutika Jadhav (46) lodged a complaint with us after receiving the lab test reports of these drugs.” Ghodke said, “The drugs were used to treat patients suffering from burns, liver failure and other ailments. These medicines were administered to critically ill patients and found to be life-saving. Last June, FDA officials conducted raids at several shops across Maharashtra and collected samples of the tablets from pharmacy stores,” he said.“The state govt tested these samples and found that the medicinal properties mentioned in the milligram format were not consistent with what was stated on the labels or packaging,” Ghodke said.“There were several discrepancies in the medicinal value of these critical drugs. After obtaining the test reports, the FDA authorities decided to register a case against the shopkeepers and others involved,” he said.“As of now, we do not know where these drugs were manufactured or how they were supplied to the pharmacy shops. We would record statements of the shopkeepers to trace the source of these drugs,” he added.“We have been also verifying whether these pharmacists supplied the drugs to city hospitals where critically ill patients were treated,” he said.
