Pfizer depot suspended after Bengaluru fake drug bust; 16 licences cancelled
· India · Indian Express, News18, The Hindu
Karnataka's Food Safety and Drugs Administration cancelled the licences of 16 retail and wholesale pharmaceutical firms and suspended eight others, including Pfizer's Bengaluru depot, after raids on farmhouses in Bidadi and Dodderi on August 18. The raids seized suspected counterfeit medicines worth Rs 5 crore along with fake bills, injection-filling equipment and counterfeit labels bearing non-functional QR codes. A Special Investigation Team found that low-cost drugs from neighbouring states were allegedly refilled into new vials and relabelled to imitate expensive imported Pfizer brands. Health Minister U T Khader said Pfizer's sales were halted in the state because the company did not cooperate with the SIT probe. The American multinational has not yet responded to queries. The FSDA has blocked batch numbers linked to the seized drugs on its portal to stop further distribution.
Why it matters
Cancer patients and hospitals in Karnataka relying on imported Pfizer drugs face supply disruption while the counterfeit racket exposed a direct threat to public health from medicines lacking active ingredients.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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