DCA Raids Quack Seizes Unauthorized Medicines

 Hyderabad: The Drugs Control Administration (DCA) raided the premises of a quack identified as Gouraram Venkatesh of Uddemarri, of Medchal-Malkajgiri district who was passing himself of as a private medical practitioner, and was holding unauthorised stocks of medicines for sale.

V.B. Kamalasan Reddy, DCA Director-General, said in a release that officials had seized 38 varieties of medicines including antibiotics, steroids, anti-ulcer and antihypertensive medicines along with physicians’ samples, all worth Rs 1.65 lakh, during the raid carried out on Sunday at ‘Mamatha Sri Clinic’ that Venkatesh was running.

The DCA said the raid was carried out after receiving credible information about Venkatesh. Dr V. Balanaganjan, assistant director, DCA Shamirpet zone, and B. Praveen, drugs inspector, led the raid, the DCA said. The samples have been sent for analysis.

Physicians’ samples are manufactured by pharmaceutical companies for distribution to doctors for supply to their patients as a free sample and are not to be sold. Stocking of drugs and physicians’ samples without a drug licence is punishable under Drugs and Cosmetics Act and violation entails imprisonment up to five years.