A hospital in western suburbs is in the dock for stocking heavy duty medicines without the required permit from the state-run FDA (Food and Drug Administration). FDA officials raided Sai Siddhi Hospital in Kandivali East and seized medicines worth Rs 2 lakh two weeks ago. The 7-bedded hospital in Lokhandwala Complex at Krantinagar is is run by 40-year-old Sureshkumar Jaiswal.
Nineteen injectible prescription products, including anti-malarials, antibiotics, antacids—Pentaprazole, sodium chloride saline drip and anti-histamines like Hiscil, were seized from the hospital.
The raid came after FDA officials were tipped off by a local NGO. FDA officials said though Jaiswal was a mere 12th-pass, he had claimed he possessed a degree in electropathy (BEMS).
The drug samples will be tested in FDA lab to ascertain their quality. The seized drugs were manufactured by Mahadeo Pharmaceuticals at Solan in Himachal Pradesh, Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals at Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Nirma Pharmaceuticals in Gujarat.
"Jaiswal managed and owned the hospital, and procured as well as stocked these drugs from wholesalers/distributors though he didn't have an FDA licence," said SV Pratapwar, FDA drug inspector, Kandivili Zone.
He has been booked under section 18 (c) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 for stocking drugs without proper licence. The offence attracts an imprisonment of three years and a penalty of Rs 20,000.
When dna spoke to Jaiswal, he feigned ignorance saying: "I own the hospital and stock drugs. I sign on invoices. I didn't know that an FDA licence was required for that. Moreover, I do not practise electropathy anymore."
The state health department hasn't recognised electropathy as an alternative medicine. Stocking drugs without licence and prescribing them can prove dangerous to the life of a patient. April 20 dna report, 'Knee pain relief tabs claim woman's life', had narrated the story of a 57-year-old Thane resident, Pratibha Shimpi, who had been prescribed allopathic allopurinol tablets by an Ayurvedic doctor.
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