Himachal govt gears up for action against medicine mafia

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], November 30 (ANI): With the aim to curb the manufacturing of spurious drugs, the Himachal Pradesh government has started an exercise to break the network of medicine mafia.
The Himachal Pradesh government has called a high-level meeting to devise a mechanism to eradicate the manufacturing and trading of spurious medicines in the state. All the laws, including a three-year-old order of the Supreme Court, will be invoked to control the spurious drug-making mafia whose network is spread across the country. All other states will be involved to arrest this growing menace.
"We are the first state in the country to initiate this exercise of breaking the network of counterfeit medicine mafia following the directions of the Supreme Court order," said Neeraj Kumar, Special Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Health Department.
"This network is spread in many other states of the country, and we have also asked the Uttar Pradesh government drug department to cooperate in this exercise besides informing the Central Drug Controlling Authority to look into this serious issue which is costing many lives across the globe," Neeraj asserted.
According to Himachal Pradesh Health Department, the menace of spurious drugs is mushrooming across the country including Himachal Pradesh. These counterfeit medicines have taken many lives in the past.
Sensing the peril of manufacturing spurious and substandard drugs openly in various parts of the country, the Supreme Court has asked the Central and State governments to devise a mechanism to check this life-taking illicit trade.
Last month, three cases of illicit drug-making were unearthed in the Baddi region in Himachal Pradesh, a pharmaceutical hub of the country.
Following the 2019 orders of the Supreme Court, the Himachal Pradesh government has cast special teams taking onboard professionals from the pharma sector and other agencies to eradicate this menace of fake drug manufacturing.
One of these special teams has recently busted a gang of four men in the Baddi region who were manufacturing counterfeit medicine and supplying it to other states of the country. A Health Department officer said these men maintain a network of counterfeit drugs across several states.
They are being taken in remand and an investigation is underway to uncover the network of drug mafia, said the officer. (ANI)