With hundreds of sub standard pharmaceutical companies pumping their medicines into the valley which the local drug control department is unable to check, Kashmiris face a very high risk of consuming such drugs with fatal consequences. The racket of spurious drugs is operated through a well oiled mafia and alarmingly the racket is booming with the blessing of those who should normally have busted it.
Interestingly, the maximum risk in spurious drug racket involves the antibiotics and other life saving drugs. Next time a doctor prescribes an antibiotic, beware you could unknowingly be consuming poison in the name of a life saving drug.
Approximately, about 14000 pharmaceutical companies are operating in the valley and majority of them do not have the requisite research and analysis wing. World health organization (WHO) has made it clear that no pharmaceutical company can function without having a separate research and analysis wing. According to sources about 30 to 40 new companies are being introduced in the valley everyday. These companies usually operate on propaganda cum distribution basis making it even more vulnerable for the common masses.
Mostly companies from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi offer huge margins for the distributors who launch and market their sub standard products. Expensive antibiotics and life saving drugs are on offer for very less rates and the margins are kept for everybody related to the trade from distributor to the doctor. One distributor preferring anonymity accepted “ there are sizeable number of doctors who prefer medicines from these sub standard companies for their share. Distributors of such companies ‘trap’ doctors for attractive gifts and cash payments and the ‘noble professionals’ in return prescribe the medicine like anything.”
Etalaat tried to contact Drug control department assistant director but he refused to give his version saying that he is in Baltal. Sources in the department however expressed their inability to check this onslaught of these sub standard medicines. On official said “ We collect random samples from the markets off and on and send them to the laboratories. That is what we can do.”
People generally believe that there is a strong nexus between the concerned department, wholesale distributors and some doctors which has become a mafia particularly from the last two decades. They fail to understand that despite the concerned department launching drives from time to time to check this menace, why then this illegal business is not arrested.