Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Fake and spurious medicines are being supplied across the state, posing a severe threat to human health. Given the widespread nature of this major scam, former MP Imtiaz Jaleel has demanded a high-level investigation by the State’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) through a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the Director General of Police (DGP), the Additional Director General of Police, and the CID chief.
Jaleel, in his memorandum, highlighted that as many as 8.5 million counterfeit pills have been distributed by four different companies across the state. Conducting a high-level and in-depth investigation is crucial to determine whether such incidents have occurred in government hospitals. Reports indicate that the Kolhapur-based company, M/s. Vishal Enterprises which had supplied counterfeit medicines to Swami Ramanand Teerth Hospital (Ambajogai) has also supplied 33 types of medicines to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar).
The medical market involving Bombay Market (BM) medicines is expanding at a rapid pace. The BM market business has reached hundreds of crores annually, with some medical officials, employees, medical stores, and certain agencies and institutions connected to the medical field supporting this trade. There is a possibility that the network for counterfeit drug production and distribution in hospitals operates across state boundaries, warranting a high-level investigation, underlined the memorandum.