Bureau Prayagraj. Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday seized medicines worth Rs 73.24 lakh in a statewide crackdown against misleading drug advertisements and medicines violating regulations. Among the seized medicines, medicines worth Rs 51.41 lakh are said to be manufactured by Divya Pharmacy, a Haridwar-based company of Patanjali Group associated with Baba Ramdev.
According to a report in Hindustan Times, this special campaign was conducted on the instructions of recently appointed FDA Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe. After assuming charge on May 25, Mundhe had given instructions for strict action across the state to protect public health. Under this, simultaneous raids were conducted in seven regional divisions of FDA including Mumbai, Konkan, Pune, Nashik, Amravati, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
FDA officials say that in this action taken under the Objectionable Advertisement (Prohibition) Act, 1954 related to drugs and miraculous remedies, 12 Ayurvedic medicine establishments across the state were investigated. During the investigation, medicines were seized which were allegedly being promoted with claims like cure of serious diseases and miraculous results.
A large part of the seized medicines is said to belong to Divya Pharmacy. According to the FDA, medicines worth Rs 18.58 lakh were seized in Konkan region, Rs 14.68 lakh in Pune, Rs 7.26 lakh in Nagpur, Rs 7.10 lakh in Nashik, Rs 1.85 lakh in Mumbai, Rs 1.42 lakh in Amravati and Rs 48,718 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The products seized include Drishti Eye Drop, Giloy Ghan Vati, Kutaj Ghan Vati, Cystogrit Diamond Tablets, Neurogrit Gold Capsules, Madhugrit Tablets and Memorygrit Tablets.
According to the report, the action was not limited to Ayurvedic medicines only. During the inspection in Pune region, FDA also seized allegedly mislabeled allopathic medicines worth Rs 21.83 lakh. In this operation, the biggest recovery of allopathic medicines was made from Pune area. The total value of Ayurvedic and allopathic medicines seized across the state is said to be Rs 73,24,656. This is considered one of the largest enforcement actions taken by the FDA in recent times.
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