Bhubaneswar: Following a hue and cry over the seizure of a huge quantity of fake anti-Covid drugs in various parts of Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Monday asked the Crime Branch to investigate the case.
Hinting toward strong action against those involved in the illegal practice, Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Das Sunday said counterfeiting business will not be tolerated.
The state drugs controller officials have seized huge quantities of spurious anti-Covid drugs during raids in Cuttack, Bolangir, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Kalahandi and Rourkela. So far 10 varieties of fake drugs have been seized during the raids.
After getting information from the Food and Drug Administration, Maharashtra about spurious Favipiravir tablets (Favimax-400), the state officials swung into action. Max Relief Health Care, non-existing drug manufacturer from Solan in Himachal Pradesh, had sold the drugs to a Cuttack-based pharmaceutical wholesaler.
The first raid was recently conducted on the premises of Medilloyd Medicament Private Limited, Cuttack that had purchased the drugs.
During the raid, the officials found that the firm had purchased 58,000 tablets of ‘Favimax-400’ from Max Relief Health Care, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. The UP firm is also a non-existing one. Since then the officials have been continuously raiding various drug stores across the state.
PNN