Homeopaths with stocks of allopathy medicines: FDA seeks reply
TNN | Apr 18, 2019, 08.00 AM IST
MUMBAI: The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent letters to around 25 homeopaths from Dombivli, asking them to explain their large stocks of allopathic drugs. Though homeopaths cannot store or dispense allopathic drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the practice is mostly overlooked due to factors ranging from shortage of MBBS practitioners to state's empathic stance towards crosspathy.
The drug regulator is believed to have come across several "big" purchases made by homeopaths from wholesalers that was revealed during auditing of bills in March. The FDA's Thane branch has sought answers from the practitioners of alternative medicine as to whether the drugs were indeed purchased by them, how they were stored and dispensed.
Senior FDA officials have said that the exercise is unlikely to be extended beyond Dombivli, for now.
"We were surprised to find homeopaths storing allopathy drugs in such huge quantities. There was anything between four and 10 bills for each doctor. Dombivli is not a village. There are 400 chemists, so what is the need to store medicines?" said an FDA official, adding that in the past, practitioners have been found handing out loose medicines. "Some also store injectables and steroids without following storage conditions," the official said. He added that the exercise was also meant to check if wholesalers were fudging records.
TNN | Apr 18, 2019, 08.00 AM IST
MUMBAI: The state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent letters to around 25 homeopaths from Dombivli, asking them to explain their large stocks of allopathic drugs. Though homeopaths cannot store or dispense allopathic drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the practice is mostly overlooked due to factors ranging from shortage of MBBS practitioners to state's empathic stance towards crosspathy.
The drug regulator is believed to have come across several "big" purchases made by homeopaths from wholesalers that was revealed during auditing of bills in March. The FDA's Thane branch has sought answers from the practitioners of alternative medicine as to whether the drugs were indeed purchased by them, how they were stored and dispensed.
Senior FDA officials have said that the exercise is unlikely to be extended beyond Dombivli, for now.
"We were surprised to find homeopaths storing allopathy drugs in such huge quantities. There was anything between four and 10 bills for each doctor. Dombivli is not a village. There are 400 chemists, so what is the need to store medicines?" said an FDA official, adding that in the past, practitioners have been found handing out loose medicines. "Some also store injectables and steroids without following storage conditions," the official said. He added that the exercise was also meant to check if wholesalers were fudging records.
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