Spurious drugs seized, three arrested
Recovered empty vials were collected by sweepers from garbage dumps of hospitals.
ISLAMABAD:
Three people were arrested by the Anti Corruption Circle of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday for selling spurious drugs.
During a raid by an FIA team on Bukhari Medical Store in Rawalpindi cantt, hundreds of thousand of rupees of anti-biotic injections “Tinem” and “Meronem” were recovered in huge quantity along with various other drugs and medicines of government and defence hospitals.
The FIA team arrested the owner of the store along with two people who were caught red-handed refilling empty and contaminated vials with spurious powder.
The recovered medicines included 170 Tinem injections, two Meronum injections, Rs 200,000 worth of miscellaneous medicines, 120 injections of Streptomycin and 120 empty vials.
The suspects revealed during initial investigation that the empty vials were given to them by two sweepers of a defence hospital of Rawalpindi who had collected them from a garbage dump.
The sweepers were being paid for collecting the empty vials from garbage cans.
An FIA official said the cost of each injection was Rs 2,000 in the market while these were being sold at Rs 700 at Bukhari Medical Store.
An official said it was easy business for the sweepers to collect the empty vials and other used medicines as they were not disposed off properly by hospital staff.
FIA has registered a case under Drug Act 1976 section 23 and 27 and started investigation.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2011.
Three people were arrested by the Anti Corruption Circle of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday for selling spurious drugs.
During a raid by an FIA team on Bukhari Medical Store in Rawalpindi cantt, hundreds of thousand of rupees of anti-biotic injections “Tinem” and “Meronem” were recovered in huge quantity along with various other drugs and medicines of government and defence hospitals.
The FIA team arrested the owner of the store along with two people who were caught red-handed refilling empty and contaminated vials with spurious powder.
The recovered medicines included 170 Tinem injections, two Meronum injections, Rs 200,000 worth of miscellaneous medicines, 120 injections of Streptomycin and 120 empty vials.
The suspects revealed during initial investigation that the empty vials were given to them by two sweepers of a defence hospital of Rawalpindi who had collected them from a garbage dump.
The sweepers were being paid for collecting the empty vials from garbage cans.
An FIA official said the cost of each injection was Rs 2,000 in the market while these were being sold at Rs 700 at Bukhari Medical Store.
An official said it was easy business for the sweepers to collect the empty vials and other used medicines as they were not disposed off properly by hospital staff.
FIA has registered a case under Drug Act 1976 section 23 and 27 and started investigation.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2011.