034. Vigilance raid in Kerala Drug Control Offices.

Vigilance dept conducts raids in drug control offices across Kerala

By Pharma Biz

Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Sleuths of the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DVAC) in Kerala conducted simultaneous raids in all the Assistant Drug Controllers’ and Drug Inspectors’ offices across the state on August 10 following informal complaints of rampant corruption against drug control officers, said a senior officer in the DVAC.

The vigilance officer said the department was receiving a slew of complaints from the drug traders from all the districts on alleged demand of bribery by drug inspectors and senior officials for renewal of the traders’ licences and for test reports from labs. According to him the drug control officials are deliberately delaying the services of the concerned offices for not giving them money as bribe by the traders.

He said his team has seized Rs.11000 from a drug inspector’s pocket during the raid. More cases of corruption are being investigated and surprise raids will be conducted further in all the offices, if needed.

Speaking to Pharmabiz, the officer of the anti-corruption department said all the problems pertaining to the price, quality, standard and availability of drugs are occurred in the state due to the inefficient way of operations of the drug control department. He said the department’s lackadaisical attitude is the main cause for the distribution of sub-standard quality drugs in the state.

However, he admitted that there is heavy work load in analytical laboratory of the department because of shortage of staff, but renewal of licences is delayed for collecting money from traders.

The vigilance officer, who led the team in the capital for raid, said a drug inspector asks for Rs.1000 per week from each medical store and senior officers demand a sum of Rs.5000 to find solutions for the traders’ problems with the government. When asked whether such cases of corruption were received against ayurvedic drug inspectors, he said there were some cases.

When contacted, state drugs controller CS Satheesh Kumar said there are limitations in the facilities of the drug testing lab, hence the test reports are getting delayed. Regarding renewal of licences, he said once the application is given for renewal, the trader can go on with his business until the department releases the renewed certificate and the delay does not affect his business.

Further he said there is shortage of drug inspectors and analysts in the department, and once the new lab under construction in Kochi is commissioned, all the problems will be solved.

The anti-corruption bureau has termed the operation as ‘Operation Tablet’. The officials inspected some retail shops to find out any irregularity and took stock of the situation.

This was the first time the vigilance conducted a raid in all the offices of the DC administration in the state. DVAC will submit a comprehensive report on the state wide raid to the government shortly for further action.

Link: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=70622&sid=1

Republished here by courtesy of Pharma Biz.Com

033. Do Not Build Drug Testing Labs So That Culprits Shall Escape.

Meagre allocation of funds by state govt holds up completion of Kochi drug testing lab

By Pharma Biz

Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
Thursday, March 21, 2013

The plan to commission the second drug testing laboratory of the Kerala drugs control department, being constructed at Ernakulam, is unlikely to be a reality in the near future owing to paucity of funds for the project. Even the completion of the building work is being held up. 

The state government has allocated only Rs.2 crore in the budget for three proposed drug testing laboratories including the Kochi lab. But, even for the completion of the on-going work at Kochi lab requires a minimum of Rs.6 crore, sources from the health department told Pharmabiz.

The department of drugs control had submitted proposals to the government with a plan outlay for Rs.24 crore for all the three labs. For completing the on-going project of Kochi Lab, it submitted a proposal for Rs.8 crore and to start work for the other two laboratories at Thrissur and at Kozhikodu, two more projects of the same amount were submitted.

Unfortunately, the state government did not accepted any of the proposals putting the upcoming project at Kochi into trouble. Due to scarcity of funds, the work of the lab cannot be completed as expected and commissioning of it was slated for May this year but will be delayed, it is learnt.

“The work of the Kochi laboratory is moving at a snail’s pace. We expected a minimum of Rs.6 crore to complete the work and commissioning of the lab planned in May this year. But government has sanctioned only a meagre amount for this project. This means that work for other two labs is also not able to start this year. The only hope is the diversion of unutilised funds from other departments towards this purpose and we are waiting for that,” said an official close to the department.

Currently, the department has only one drug testing laboratory situated close to the office of the department at Thiruvananthapuram and it has a capacity for testing 4000 samples per year. Whereas, the estimated capacity for the upcoming Kochi lab is 6000 samples. The total number of field staff collection is near about 300 samples per month. Due to lack of modern facilities and shortage of technical staff, all the samples can not be tested on time and delays the result for even one year. By the time, all the substandard or date expired drugs might have been sold out in the market. So, the state needs more drug testing labs with modern machinery in order to strengthen the regulatory mechanism, sources said.

Link: http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=74398&sid=1

Republished here by courtesy of Pharma Biz. Com