Investigating the spurious drugs case that recently surfaced in Punjab, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has focused its investigations that how the Punjab Government awarded contracts to six pharmaceutical companies who are facing allegations of manufacturing these suspected drugs, a source in the Interior Ministry informed.
It has revealed during the early investigations of FIA that these companies were providing supplies only to Punjab, a source aware of the development informed adding that FIA would ascertain in the probe that whether the provincial government properly followed Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in award of contracts to these companies. He further said that it had also come into light during the probe that one of these companies was based in Sindh and it was only proving medicines to Punjab and not any other federating unit including Sindh.
According to an official document of the Ministry of Interior, FIA has raided three pharmaceutical companies based in Lahore i.e. Pharma Wise Laboratories (Pvt) Limited, Al-Falah Pharma (Pvt) Limited and Mega Pharmaceutical Limited.
FIA in its investigations has transpired that Al-Falah Pharma purchased inactive raw material from local market but failed to produce any evidence of the source of purchase and other specifications of the raw material. In addition to that, the drug formulation licence of the company was found expired in April 2011 and the company failed to provide any revalidation of the license.
An official communication of FIA Punjab, Lahore office with the Interior Ministry shows that Pharma Wise Laboratories has been purchasing active and inactive raw material from local market against the prevailing Drug Act. Further more, the company failed to provide, before the investigators, particulars of manufacturer of the raw material and its specifications along with drug analysis report.
FIA investigations also show that Mega Pharmaceutical had been procuring the active raw material from a Chinese company Zhejiang Jiangbei Pharmaceutical Company (Ltd), China that is further being verified by the Agency. However, the company had been purchasing inactive raw material from local market against the existing law.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik while briefing journalists on Thursday informed that FIA would jointly conduct investigations with the Punjab Government in the case to dispel the impression that Authority was probing the case with some political motivations. He said that six pharmaceutical companies were allegedly involved in the spurious drugs case, out of which chief executive officers of three companies namely Muhammad Waseem Chaudhry, Chaudhry Nadir Khan and Dr. Muhammad Tahir Azam had been arrested. “FIA during raids on three pharmaceutical companies including Pharma Wise Laboratories, Al-Falah Pharma (Pvt) and Mega Pharmaceutical Limited in Lahore has seized allegedly spurious drugs (Alfagril tablets, Solprin tablets and Carovatin tablets) from their stores,” he added.
The minister said all the relevant record pertaining to procurement of raw material used in manufacturing of the drugs has also been confiscated, which is being analysed.
Rehman Malik said these companies had supplied the alleged spurious drugs to Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC), which paid their bills after test reports from Drug Testing Laboratory, Lahore. “The relevant testing reports have been requisitioned from the laboratory,” he further informed. He said the samples of spurious drugs have been sent to the Central Drug Testing Laboratory Karachi for independent test reports through Federal Drug Inspectors. He said that post-mortem of one of the victims of the fake drugs could also be carried out, if required to ascertain the facts.
Commenting on the recent firing incidents in Karachi and Quetta, he said some elements, third forces, wanted to fan sectarianism especially to destabilize
Karachi, which is the hub of economic activities of the country. “According to some investigation reports, no religious party or outfit is involved in this sectarian violence,” he further said.
Replying to a question, Malik said 13 people were arrested over allegedly getting the copy of his (Malik’s) computerised national identity card illegally from the data bank of National Database Registration Authority. One of the arrested people has confessed the crime, he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment