Latest update April 24th, 2024 12:59 AM
May 05, 2022 News
Kaieteur News – More than one year after being charged for providing the Ministry of Health (MOH) with expired HIV testing kits, Davendra Rampersaud, was on Wednesday freed of the charge after the magistrate upheld a no- case submission.
Rampersaud, a Technical Consultant to Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc. on his first court appearance had denied the charge which alleges that on January 16, 2020, Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc., sold and supplied 400 units (20 packs) of Uni-Gold HIV test kits, batch #HIV7120026, with misleading representation, a violation of the Food and Drugs Act of 1971.
He was charged for selling and supplying the devices with misleading representation, which is a violation of the Food and Drugs Act, Cap. 34:03, Part V, Section 18 (1) of 1971, to the Materials Management Unit (MMU) located at 55-56 First Avenue, Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
The matter was being heard in the Leonora Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Zameena Ali-Seepaul.
Rampersaud was represented by attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat, who made a no case submission to the court on his behalf. As such, on Wednesday the Magistrate ruled that there is no admissible evidence before the court to show why the prosecution brought the charge before the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
The magistrate added that the evidence does not show that the offence occurred in the court’s jurisdiction, nor did the evidence show that the defendant resides in the district.
It was further highlighted that earlier in the matter, the issue of jurisdiction was raised, but the prosecution had stated that the jurisdiction would be shown in the trial. However, she noted that the trial had come to an end and there evidence has not established that the court has jurisdiction over the matter.
In giving her second finding, Magistrate Ali-Seepaul noted that evidence failed to link Rampersaud to the offence, nor linked to the company or business.
In her final finding, the magistrate noted that the prosecution failed to prove that the test kits in question were expired or carrying misleading information. As such, the Magistrate upheld the defence no-case submission and dismissed the matter.
According to reports, a quantity of the testing kits was seized by the GA-FDD from the MMU of the MoH at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, and from local hospitals and laboratories.
This publication had reported that the probe was launched into the fake HIV testing kits after an Irish manufacturer wrote to the then Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, during January 2020, warning that it is aware of counterfeit Uni-Gold HIV test kits in Guyana.
The Irish company supplied photographic evidence, which clearly indicated that the kits expired since July 2019. In its complaint, the company, Trinity Biotech, named Caribbean Medical Supplies Inc. as the company that was allegedly supplying the expired testing kits.
According to the company, the fake boxes were created with expiry dates extended by 17 months, and the kits repacked in them. Trinity Biotech said that the products were already six months out of date when they were brought to Guyana. The company further claimed that its Trinidad-based authorized distributor, Transcontinental Medical Products Limited, is the only authorized distributor for the Uni-Gold kits to Guyana.
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