April 11, 2006	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 10: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the federal controllers of the quality of medicines to develop a comprehensive policy to check trade in spurious drugs.

In a suo motu action, a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Syed Jamshed Ali directed Federal Secretary Health Syed Anwar Mehmood to convene a meeting of all the provincial secretaries of health and chalk out a proper guideline to discourage the flow of spurious and misbranded drugs.

Directions were also issued to activate the state machinery but without harassing pharmaceutical companies.

The government was asked to submit to the court by May 12 a report on the steps it takes in regard to the directives.

The Supreme Court also expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the drug courts and suggested the government to establish more courts to ease their workload.

The court was hearing a complaint of Dr Shamsuz Zaman Soomro, about ‘Ceftriaxone Sodium’ being produced by Robins Pharmaceuticals and Lyod’s Pharmaceuticals. A specimen of batch No.130 of the product was also preserved by the complainant which he claimed, he bought for Rs70 against its original price of Rs495.

Subsequently, a quality control report stated that it was a misbranded product but not spurious while the Health Ministry issued a show cause notice to the two pharmaceutical companies.

At the last hearing the apex court had asked the chairman, Quality Control, to produce complete details about the cases registered in 2005 under the Drugs Act 1976 across the country and the number of persons challaned for counterfeiting.

The ministry was also asked to give details as to how many drug courts were working in the country and the rate of disposal of cases by them.

On Monday, the court also directed the government to consider the suggestions forwarded by Ayaz Kiani, Chief Coordinator The Network for Consumer Production regarding spurious drugs and asked him to appear on the next date to assist the court.

Advocate Munir Bhatti, who remained associated with the health department and was part of efforts to control the flow of spurious medicines, highlighted difficulties before the court stating that all sorts of medicines like Unani, herbal and homoeopathic were available in the country without any law.

“It is not only the menace of spurious drugs but there are many other things like drugs registration, their pricing, unethical marketing, irrational use and shortage of essential drugs which needed attention,” he said.

At this the CJ also observed that law should be devised for Unani and homoeopathic drugs.

In its reply the federal government through Deputy Attorney General Nasir Saeed Sheikh sought permission from the court to proceed against the two manufacturers of the spurious drugs.

Gross irregularities and violations of the Drugs Act 1976 have been found by the health ministry, the report said, after thorough scrutiny and verification of the records, reports of the field officers and the complaint about the medicine.