Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 20, 2019 News
By Trishan Craig
A suspect has been arrested and released on station bail in relation to a number of fake pharmaceuticals which were found on the local markets by the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD).
Over the past few weeks, the GA-FDD as part of its investigation into the matter visited several pharmacies in and around Georgetown and from these a number of named over the country drugs were seized. These drugs according to the Food and Drugs Director, Marlan Cole, were not cleared by the department for sale.
The director said that during the investigation Food and Drugs officials found items that appeared very much authentic, and had been on the market for a very long time.
“During this investigation I felt very shocked to see some items that I personally knew which were on the market for a very long time. With close examination we found the difference. It’s like the person is photocopying authentic items but we can’t say as yet how the fake items are being created.”
According to information released by the GA-FDD, inspectors visited 16 pharmacies on August 22, 2019 and August 23, 2019. The substandard/falsified (SF) drugs were found at nine of the locations and these products were seized and removed from the premises.
At the retail locations for the illegal pharmaceuticals, investigators seized 17 boxes of a medication labeled “chanca piedra phosmovite”, sold at $3,500, which is purportedly used to treat gall and kidney stones, clean the liver and the urinary tract.
Also found were 28 boxes of a product named “Fungabort”, sold at an average price of $1,000, which was said to be effective in the treatment of nail fungus. In addition, 23 boxes of “Phosferine”, sold at an average price of $3,000, were seized.
The director highlighted that since the findings of the investigation were released none of the customers have attempted to make contact with the relevant authorities to give a feedback about the products to indicate if they were effective against the symptoms for which they were prescribed.
GA-FDD had reported that on some of the drugs found, a manufacturer’s address stated as “Mainland Labs in Canada” and “Phosferine Health Care Co., Toronto Canada” was not established in the database of the Food and Drugs Department.
The teams were also unable to verify the addresses on the labels of other products.
On scanning the barcodes on the suspicious products, the GA-FDD teams found that none were in the Department’s systems.
This publication understands that Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) footage was obtained from the pharmacies where the illegal products were found, in an attempt to trace the registration number on the vehicle of the distributor for the products.
Director Cole told Kaieteur News that, “We are taking this move because the retailers did not have any paperwork that we can trace for a location or specific person who is sourcing these products.”
He added, “We were told the individual would just arrive with the stock in his vehicle, give the price of the items, hand over and leave.”
Cole said that his department has since handed over the findings of its investigation to ranks of the police fraud department which will determine the way forward. This publication has been reliably informed that the file on the matter will be forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for advice.
Based on information released by the GA-FDD, it is a clear breach of the Consumer Affairs Act Section 18: 1-3 and the Food and Drugs Act, Part VI, Chapter 21 when there is no adequate record keeping for traceability purposes particularly for the sale of medication for patient use.
GA-FDD is therefore advising all pharmacies to immediately desist from the practice of purchasing and retailing medication from “walk-in-salesmen” (suitcase traders) who refuse to provide invoices or adequate receipt or other records for traceability purposes.
The head of the department had said that a country-wide sweep will be done to see if the illegal items are being retailed at locations other than the ones reported. Details of the countrywide exercise are likely to be released as they become available by next month.
The Department, Cole said, is currently in a position to aggressively implement measures to protect consumers from the associated dangers of SF medications. He said that if the distributor is found to be operating under illegal circumstances, legal action will be taken. Currently, such acts incur a fine of up to $30,000 along with six months’ imprisonment.
Kaieteur News had reported that ingredients in some of the “fake” that were recently seized could be detrimental to users. Information provided to this publication reveal that one of the products sold is made with ‘Caustic Soda’ better known as Sodium Hydroxide which is broken down as an ingredient in one of the products.
This product it is said may cause severe chemical burns. Furthermore, another website, ThoughtCo, stated, “Caustic soda is not sold in bulk and in some cases it has been removed from the market because of being used as an ingredient to make illegal drugs.”
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