‘Stent scam is fake’

Pharmacists’ representatives claim DRAP chief profiting from scam, cite past cases

ISLAMABAD: The stent scam making headlines in the media was crafted to manoeuvre things so that some 11 Chinese companies registered despite violating drug rules, can make profits, claimed a pharmacists’ and a lawyers’ forum.

They alleged that the head of the drug regulator is a partner at a medical supplies company and helped get registered 11 Chinese stents under this company, which is against the drug act.

The Federal Investigation Agency and Supreme Court are being misguided as it is a technical issue and they rely on whatever information is provided by the Drug Regulatory Authority (Drap), they said at a press conference.

The FIA unearthed a scam two weeks ago after a raid on Mayo Hospital, Lahore, where they found several unregistered stents. It was alleged that substandard, expired and unregistered stents were being used and patients were being overcharged.

Drap has been raiding various hospitals and the Supreme Court has also taken suo motu.

But on Wednesday, Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum and Pakistan Young Pharmacist Association held a press conference and termed it “a drama”. They also spoke against various anomalies at Drap. They also claimed their press conference was disrupted by Drap and they had to shift the venue when the hotel did not allow the electronic media to air it.



They said the scam was crafted so that Chinese stents registered by Drap CEO Aslam Afghani favouring his own company can make huge profits, while stents from other countries are not being registered.

Pakistan Drug Lawyers Forum President Dr Noor Muhammad Mahar said the CEO registered stents from two inferior Chinese sources with import prices between Rs2,000 and Rs4,000 per stent, but  was selling them to patients for between Rs100,000 and Rs250,000. In registering the stents, the Drugs Act was ripped apart as on a single registration letter, dated September 8, 2016 with Registration No 081738, eleven registrations were granted without mentioning any price, which violates sections 7 and 12 of the Drugs Act.

One registration number can only be used to register one brand of medicine or product, while here, 11 stents have been given the same registration number, he said.

They alleged that the entire record of 80,000 medical registrations disappeared despite there having been no fire or other catastrophic incidents in Drap’s office building.



Afghani joined DRAP as CEO on February 2, 2015, and within a month, he replaced the bad files of two companies in Afghani had interests.

They said the record was ‘misplaced’ because the tablets manufactured by one of these companies were at the centre of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology fiasco in 2012, which left 292 people dead.

They also claimed that Afghani had been convicted by a Peshawar Drug Court on February 26, 2002 and that he should thus not be allowed to serve in DRAP.

Pakistan Young Pharmacists Association General Secretary Dr Haroon Yousaf said medical exports have decreased from $220 million to $120 and imports have increased from $409 million to $619 million during Afghani’s tenure.

He also claimed that the companies Afghani had previously been associated with had not been in the business of selling stents and certain other products until Afghani became Drap chief.

Afghani was not available for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2017.