The Drug and Food Control Organisation in Jammu and Kashmir has cancelled the licence of eight pharmacies and suspended operations of 75 retail outlets as part of its crackdown against misuse of pharmaceutical drugs. The step has been taken to ensure the public safety and curb the misuse of pharmaceutical drugs. The objective of the initiative is to identify the pharmacies operating in violation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and to strengthen the mechanisms preventing the unauthorised sale of psychotropic substances and prescription drugs.
Of late medical profession has turned into money minting trade for all those who are associated with it. So huge is the money in this field that not only the trained doctors but even the semiliterate quacks too are amassing wealth by either posing as doctors or simply offering some other supplementary services like clinical laboratories, diagnostic centres, X-ray clinics or pharmacies. No wonder that a huge industry has sprung up in Jammu and Kashmir to prey upon the already distressed lot. Now see the irony, these ‘medical shops’ (read private clinics and diagnostic centres or nursing homes and hospitals) have spread their tentacles everywhere so much so that it has become practically impossible for the people here to conceive of a healthy life without paying some ransom to the Kashmir’s medical mafia. No wonder that people of Kashmir, particularly the chunk already troubled and distressed by disease, have been left to the mercy of the greedy diagnostic centres, clinical labs and so-called medical institutes and hospitals.
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Prime Minister’s Jan Arogya Yojna (PM-JAY) Sehat is a revolutionary step taken by the Union Government wherein people in need get free treatment upto Rs 5 lakhs, this scheme too is being exploited for the monetary benefit of a few. The doctors, who are on government’s pay roll, direct their patients to the clinics where they practice privately so that these clinics get that money.
Now that the Drug and Food Control Organisation has finally woken up and has cancelled licence of eight pharmacies and suspended operations of 75 retail outlets across Jammu and Kashmir, need is to carry on with this operation and ensure that those who don’t abide by the law and those selling sub-standard medicines are not allowed to do so any further. During the operation, the Organisation has lifted drug samples of more than 500 formulations of various categories randomly for determination of strength and purity. These samples have been referred to the Drug Testing Laboratories to ascertain their quality parameters. The authorities should share with the public the findings regarding the quality of lifted samples otherwise it would be one more ‘news-making’ event and the reports about the seized drugs will never be known to anyone.
