West Bengal: Why fake drug cartels are having a field day

As per an estimate of the Bengal Chemists and Druggists Association (BCDA), around 15 per cent of the medicines available in the market are counterfeit or illegal.

The bigger worry is that the drug control authorities under both the state and the central governments lack adequate infrastructure, including manpower, to deal with the colossal problem.

Interstate cartels

The threat became more alarming and complex after investigations into the recent seizure of fake and substandard medicines revealed the involvement of inter-state cartels in the illegal operation.

The state’s drug control authorities believe the network of the crime is spread across Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.

The government particularly woke up to the enormity of the problem after spurious medicines found their way even into a private nursing home recently.

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The drug control agencies from the state and the Centre found five ampules of “substandard” Human Albumin in a joint search in the nursing home in Kolkata’s Ultadanga area last week. The hospital authorities were not aware that the Albumin ampules, used to treat hypovolemia (low blood volume), were fake.

Raids, seizure of fake medicines

Subsequent raids that ensued after tracking the supply chain led to further seizure of spurious medicines, including Albumin ampules, valued around Rs 34 lakh from a warehouse.

The fake medicines were reportedly procured from a distributor in Mumbai.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), East Zone, and the Directorate of Drugs Control (DDC), West Bengal, have seized spurious medicines worth around Rs 7 crore, conducting multiple raids in various parts of the state since December last year.

Sources in the DDC said the interrogation of persons arrested in connection with the seizures revealed the involvement of inter-state rackets. They revealed that in one of the cases, counterfeit medicines were brought to the state by a local agency from an illegal manufacturing unit in Haryana through a middleman in Bihar. The money trail in the case, however, led to Odisha.

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Forged QR codes

The case referred above pertained to the seizure of drugs worth Rs 17 lakh from a medicine supplier, Manna Agency of Amta in Howrah, in February.

The arrested owner of the agency, Babu Manna, disclosed during the interrogations that he was approached by one “Mishraji” from Patna over the phone. The person introduced himself as a representative of a renowned pharmaceutical company. He was lured by the offer of higher rate of commission to procure medicines from an illegal-drugs manufacturing unit in Haryana through the “Patna-based middleman.”

The manufacturing unit printed a forged QR code of a prominent pharmaceutical company on its fake products.

The central government made it mandatory through a notification in 2022 for pharma companies to affix QR or bar codes on the packaging of the top 300 drug formulations to prevent counterfeiting.

The illegal manufacturers have now found ways to manipulate the regulations.

Cash trail leads to Odisha

The Manna Agency had already supplied fake medicines worth more than Rs 1.5 crore to the market before it was raided.

The payment for the medicines was made to the middleman's bank accounts in Bihar, but sources said the money from the accounts was withdrawn from ATMs in Odisha.

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The West Bengal government has reportedly sought cooperation in its investigation from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Odisha governments.

The investigators say the bulk of the fake medicines are transported to the state by trains and buses.

Health risks, danger to legitimate businesses

“The illegal trade causes major health concerns as the fake medicines could be ineffective or even harmful, putting patients’ lives at risk,” said Kolkata-based physician Dr Pinaki Mukherjee.

Chemists say it also undermines legitimate business.

The retail medicine trade is drastically hit by the news of counterfeit and fake medicines in the system, claimed Joydeep Sarkar, the general secretary of the All-India Chemists and Distributors Federation (AICDF).

The estimate of the loss is, however, not readily available with the federation.

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According to the BCDA, there has been a 47 per cent increase in counterfeit drug circulation since COVID-19 pandemic. This, many say, is because of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regulation that has enabled drug suppliers from anywhere in the country to distribute medicines nationwide.

Regulatory bodies lack manpower

Lack of monitoring, insufficient regulatory frameworks and enforcement are some other factors attributed to the proliferation of the illegal trade.

The central as well as the state regulatory bodies – the CDSCO and the DDC respectively – are critically undermanned, impacting regulation and monitoring.

More than 50 posts of inspectors and senior inspectors are lying vacant in the DDC as no recruitment has been done in the directorate since 2018 despite it having around 40 per cent vacancies, sources said. It does not even have a full-time director for the past four years.

In most districts it does not have proper set ups. The officials need to rent a vehicle as and when they go to a raid or inspection, sources added.

West Bengal has only one state-level drug control and research laboratory, known as the State Drug Control and Research Laboratory (SDCRL), which is also severely understaffed. It is running with only 12 technicians out of a sanctioned post of 47. As a result, only around 30 per cent of the samples sent to it can be tested in a month, sources added.

Also read: Centre bans 156 fixed dose combination drugs over health risk concerns

Four drug inspectors for five states

The situation is no better in the CDSCO’s eastern zonal office, which oversees the regulation, besides West Bengal, in Sikkim, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The CDSCO’s key role is to regulate the pharmaceutical industry, approving drugs, conducting clinical trials, and ensuring the quality of imported drugs.

It has only four inspectors as of April 3, 2025 to play this critical monitoring and regulating roles in five states and one Union territory.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has called demonstrations in each block and ward of the state on Friday (April 4) and Saturday (April 5) to protest against the Centre’s decision to hike prices of 248 essential medicines with effect from April 1.

The price hike by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority will have a severe impact on healthcare delivery to the poor and middle class, TMC supremo and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told media persons, demanding a rollback of the decision.