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In yet another initiative, the IPA companies have joined hands to tackle the menace of spurious drugs, leveraging experience and dedication of Mr. J F Ribeiro, former DGP-Punjab, and his associates.

The lax regulatory standards, inadequate enforcement and the Government apathy have allowed growth of spurious, counterfeit and fake drugs to alarming proportions. Some companies estimate the spurious drugs to account for one-sixth of total sales turnover of their popular brands.

The spurious drugs not only hurt the companies by the loss of sales but they also tar their image and reputation of their brands. The consumer gets cheated, as spurious drugs do not treat the ailment and consumer continues to suffer. In the case of the critical condition of the patient, it could even be life threatening. Besides the company and the consumer, the Government suffers revenue loss, as manufacturers of spurious drugs do not pay excise duty, sales tax and income tax. Likewise, the trade in spurious drugs being unaccounted, those dealing in the spurious drugs also do not pay the tax thereon

The campaign aims at following actions

The IPA companies with the help of Mr. J F Ribeiro and his associates run a drive against manufacturers and distributors of spurious drugs and bring them to book to curb the menace of spurious drugs. They work with the State Drug Control Administration and the Police Department to track down the offenders. Once they are traced, their particulars are furnished to revenue departments to put them on their trail, besides pursuing with prosecution.

Chemists are advised to obtain their requirement only from the authorized distributors/ wholesalers of the company.

The consumers are requested to purchase their medicines from the neighbourhood chemists and insist on bill/cash memo for their purchases. If they ever suspect the origin of the drugs purchased, they may please contact the nearest sales office or the headquarters of the company concerned.

Combining the market clout of India's top research based companies and using a powerful agency like that of Mr. J F Ribeiro, the new initiative will make the IPA a formidable force in the domestic pharmaceutical market.