October 04, 2007	Thursday	Ramazan 21, 1428

DERA GHAZI KHAN, Oct 3: The Civil Lines police on Wednesday claimed to have confiscated a huge cache of government-owned expired medicines illegally sold by health officials to a shopkeeper.

As per rules, such government-owned expired medicines can only be dumped on the directives of a board and no one can sell them in open market.

Health employees Zulfiqar and Bashir, the store in-charge at the office of Health Executive District Officer (EDO) Dr Parvaiz Haider Altaf, had sold at least 10,000 bottles of expired Respolin syrup and Amzine syrup to a shopkeeper.

EDO Dr Altaf said these medicines were purchased during the tenure of Dr Shahid Bhatti and should be dumped at that time as per rules. He refused to accept any responsibility in this connection.

District Health Officer Dr Sultan Aasim Bughlani Leghari said he had nothing to do with the matter as it fell in the jurisdiction of EDO.

A doctor, requesting anonymity, said these expired medicines should have been dumped on directives of the authority concerned instead of selling them out to shopkeepers endangering the life of general pubic.

He said the health officials were trying to clean the traces of their illegal purchase of expired drugs.

The health EDO had also utilised more than half of the 2006-07 budget on the last day of financial year in sheer violation of the rules and regulations. General items like towel, soap, washing powder and bed sheets worth millions of rupees but of substandard quality were purchased for EDO’s office, DHQ Hospital and rural health centres and basic health units of the district. — Correspondent