Events

Time to dust the carpet

The Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association (IDMA) organized a symposium on 'Spurious Drugs Menace: Realities & Remedies in Mumbai. Nandini Patwardhan reports

The issue of counterfeits is the one, which is always swept under the carpet. Everyone knows there is a problem and everyone is cautious about openly talking about the same.

Not any more. The pharma industry, the representing body, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) and the government representatives (FDA commissioners, Drug Controller General India, All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, packaging companies etc) came together on a common platform on September 28th, to pledge their united fight against the problem of counterfeit and spurious drugs. Dr M Venkateswarlu, DCGI inaugurated the symposium, which was followed by a talk by Jagannath Shinde, Honourable General Secretary, AIOCD.

To end with the counterfeiter was the sentiment in the air, as Dr S P Adeshara, FDA Commissioner, Gujarat, and S W Deshpande, former Jt Commissioner, Vigilance, FDA ,shared their experiences of tracking the counterfeiter and bringing him to task, and as they urged the industry to be more open about the issue. D G Shah, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance reiterated the same, urging companies to come out of their self-made thought-shell that their products are not being copied because the raids conducted give a different picture. Savio D'Souza, Secretary General, IMI & PPL explained to those present, as to how the Indian music industry tackled the same problem and urged everyone to take lessons from the same.

Venkateswarlu, DCGI, inaugurated the symposium, which was followed by a talk by Shinde, Honorary General Secretary, AIOCD. Other knowledgeable speakers for the event included Dr S P Adeshara, FDA Commissioner-Gujarat, Dr Y K Amdekar, Sr Consultant Pediatrician, Dr Vidya Acharya, Consultant Nephrologist, S W Deshpande, former Joint Commissioner, Vigilance, FDA, Maharashtra, Dr Praful Naik, Chief Scientific Officer, Bilcare and Rohit D Mistry, Chairman, Holographic Security Marking Systems.

The various sessions that followed were chaired by Dr K G Nair, Cardiologist, Dr Arun Sangani, Vice Chairman, IDMA Medical Sub-Committee, Dr Satya Agarwala, Chairman, Cliphamed Consultants, Dr Arvind Jha, GM Medical & Clincial Services, Shreya, Dr S P Adeshara, FDA Commissioner, Gujarat, and Dr Ajit Dangi, Director General, OPPI.

A distinguished panel chaired by Dr R B Smarta, Director, Interlink Marketing Consultancy and comprising regulatory officials from the various state FDAs and other industry bodies discussed these issues further.

nandini.p@expressindia.com