The spurious medicine is posing a grave risk to the human health. Lives of the ailing people in the country, of late, are being exposed to the danger of fake drugs. Patients are taking fake medicine without their knowledge and this makes the healing of disease impossible.
The marketing of spurious medicine by some crooked manufacturers by hoodwinking the drug regulators is denting the image of the country in the medicine market abroad. Medicine from Bangladesh is known for its world – class quality and it is exported to 157 countries in the worlds including Europe and the US.
Besides, harming the patient in the country, the fake medicine may have an impact on the spectacular achievement in our medicine sector, opine the experts.
The pharmaceutical industry and drug regulators are constantly working to keep substandard and spurious medicine out of market. But doctors from hospitals and pharmaceutical companies have warned that the rise in fake and substandard drugs in market has become a danger to public health.
Spurious drugs are manufactured and packaged to look like legitimate branded drugs, but they contain little or none of the active ingredients listed on the label. Fake drugs in the illegal supply chain pose a serious potential risk to unsuspecting patients.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday (March 27), the Department of Health issued a notification to prevent misuse of anesthesia in operation theaters of all public and private hospitals in the country. Hospitals have been instructed to use ‘Isoflurane or Sevoflurane’ instead of ‘halothane’ as ‘inhalational anesthetic’.
Bangladesh Society of Anesthesiologists, Critical Care and Pain Physicians President Professor Dr.Debbrata Vanik on Wednesday said, “We have been using halothane for 40 years,” but the drug is no longer available in market.
He also said that some traders are importing it illegally. A medicine worth TK 1300 mixed with something else is being sold for TK 5000. This is why we advise you to stop using this medicine. Instead, what is readily available in the market can be used.”
Besides, fake medicines that are manufactured and sold by shady gangs are of poor-quality that lack sufficient active ingredients to work properly.
Pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh is a fast growing economic sector. The growth of this sector is
remarkable. The average annual growth in the pharmaceutical industry is currently 15.6 percent.
According to the report, medicines must be manufactured following WHO ‘good manufacturing practices’. If one takes spurious and dangerous drugs, the disease may worsen. Serious side effects can cause cancer, heart disease and stroke etc. There is even fear of death of the patient due to sudden kidney failure too. Several drugs are also in high demand in market. Fraudsters are manufacturing shoddy medicines for gastric, pressure diabetes, kidney diseases for high profit. Low-quality fake drugs are selling across the country and a special gang is raking in crores of taka in drug market at Mitford in Dhaka.
Wholesale drug market in Mitford is freely selling substandard medicine from several companies.
Sexual stimulants, energy enhancers, vitamins, low-quality drugs including anti-cancer agents, abortifacients, anesthetics and various injections and syrups continue to be sold as foreign drugs using foreign labels. Besides, some business circles are marketing expired foreign medicines of famous companies at low prices.
Although it is the responsibility of the drug administration to monitor the issue of spurious drugs, no action is being taken in this regard. According to sources of Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association, the raw materials of antibiotic tetracycline are being sold frequently by mixing boric acid, sorbitol with glycerin, riboflavin, dichlor with vitamin B-2.
Besides, several drugs and injection raw materials including tetracycline, oxytetracycline, amoxicillin, doxycycline, metronidazole, ampicillin, thiamine hydroxide penicillin and paracetamol are being sold in open market. But according to experts, selling these raw materials in open market is a punishable offence.
According to sources, there are about two lakh drug stores in the country. Of these, only 60,000 shops have licence. The rest have no licence. They are freely selling fake medicines. Sources said that the drug administration is unable to take any measures only because of the manpower shortage.
Besides, drugs smuggled from government hospitals are sold at Haziran Market in Mitford. Prohibited government drugs are also stocked and sold in the alleys adjacent to Didar Market. Earlier, two warehouses in khan Medical Market were stocked with government medicines and illegally imported medicines.
Besides, Hazari Goli is the biggest market for wholesale drugs in Chittagong. Some pharmacies here sell illegal drugs. Besides, foreign cosmetics are also sold. Apart from adulterated drugs, free government drugs are available in pharmacies. From time to time, anti-adulteration operations of mobile courts led by District Administration Executive Magistrate, Drug Administration Department officials and police have been conducted in Hazari Gully,but those have not yielded much results. The sale of unregistered drugs in the market has not stopped.
In the last 14 years, 45 pharmaceutical companies have had their licence revoked for flowing. WHO’s ‘Good Manufacturing Practices’. Between 2009 and 2023, the licences of these 45 allopathy drug companies were revoked.
It may be recalled that a few years ago, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Mohammad Dastgir Hossain and Justice Ataur Rahman Khan, after the final hearing of a ruling, recommended the cancellation of the licence of 20 pharmaceutical companies and the cancellation of the production of antibiotic drugs of 14 companies.
The 20 companies whose licences have been revoked are: Medico Pharmaceutical, National Drug, North Bengal Pharmaceutical, Remo Chemical, Reed Pharmaceutical, Skylab Pharmaceutical, Spark Pharmaceutical, Exim Pharmaceutical, Evert Pharma, Alternative Pharmaceutical, Dolphin Pharmaceutical, Drugland, Globe Laboratories, Jalpa Laboratories, Kafma Pharmaceutical. Today Pharmaceutical, Tropical Pharmaceutical, Universal Pharmaceutical Limited, Star Pharmaceutical and Sunipun Pharmaceutical.
Apart from this, the 14 companies that failed to manufacture standard antibiotic drugs are Phoenix Chemical, Ad-Deen Pharmaceutical, Belsen Pharmaceutical, Bengal Drugs, Bristol Pharma, Crystal Pharmaceutical, Alkad Laboratories, Indo-Bangla Pharmaceutical, MST Pharma, Pharmic Laboratories, Orbit Pharmaceutical, Rasa Pharmaceutical, Millat Pharmaceutical & Save Pharmaceutical Limited.
The Directorate of Drug Administration (DGDA) temporarily cancels or cancels the manufacturing licences of companies manufacturing adulterated and substandard drugs as well as suspends production and marketing of fake durgs.