Mumbai, Oct 23 (PTI) The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cancelled 29 licences and suspended 71 others across the state after a two-week inspection drive uncovered widespread regulatory violations, an official statement said on Friday.
Covering 937 establishments, including retail chemists, blood banks, and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, the drive resulted in 450 deficiency notices and seizures of illegal drugs and cosmetics worth over Rs 28.52 lakh.
As per an official release, the administration issued 382 notices to drug sellers after detecting deficiencies and subsequently suspended 49 licences and cancelled 22 for violations of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.
The FDA also conducted 105 inspections of drug, cosmetic and medical device manufacturers, blood centres, blood storage centres and drug testing laboratories. The number of inspections increased from 31 in the first week to 74 in the second week.
Apart from inspections, FDA officials initiated five enforcement actions against unlicensed sale and manufacture of drugs and cosmetics and illegal trade in psychotropic drugs, seizing goods worth Rs 28.52 lakh, the statement said.
In Nagpur, the administration found that Phoenix Medicorp at Bharatmata Chowk continued stocking allopathic medicines at unlicensed premises after surrendering its licences. Officials seized medicines worth Rs 22.03 lakh.
The FDA detected unlicensed manufacturing of cosmetics, particularly soaps, at Vedas Herbals Mahila Gruh Udyog in Baramati, Pune district.
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the administration booked two persons allegedly involved in the illegal purchase and sale of 34 tablets of Nitrazepam (Nitrosun 10), a psychotropic drug.
Police registered an FIR under the NDPS Act, 1985, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and arrested both accused, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the FDA collected 149 samples for testing during the two weeks, comprising 115 allopathic medicines, 14 Ayurvedic medicines, 17 cosmetic products and three homoeopathic medicines.
The administration’s three drug testing laboratories in Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur completed testing of 279 samples during the period.
Of these, 258 samples met the prescribed quality standards, while 21 failed.
Among the 21 failed samples, the FDA classified 18 as Not of Standard Quality (NSQ), two as misbranded and one as spurious.
The FDA said it had initiated further action under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and started recalling medicines from the market in five cases. PTI ND ARU
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