The Hindu Business Line : Drugmakers keen to blow the whistle on spurious trade

Mumbai, July 28 Spurious drugs result in murder most foul, says Novartis head in India, Mr Ranjit Shahani, welcoming the Union Health Minister Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad’s recent statement in Parliament on a ‘whistleblower scheme’ to reward tip-offs on such medicines.

Last week, Mr Azad proposed rewards of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 20 lakh for information on the manufacture of spurious drugs. It would encourage locals and labourers to come forward with information, he had told the Rajya Sabha.

Issue back on centre-stage

The proposal has not been discussed with the pharmaceutical industry, but representatives are happy the issue is back on centre-stage after a gap of about five years.

Done with a profit motive, counterfeit drugs cause a “perfect murder”, observes Mr Shahani, where “you take the pill — the evidence disappears and you die of the disease and not the medicine.”

Lauding the “creative” suggestion to reward the informer, he however points out the need to keep the identity of the whistleblower confidential as in the case of the income-taxinformant-cum-whistleblower to help unearth tax evasions.

Fear of threats

But will people come forward despite fears of threats from the mafias operating in this segment? “History shows that by and large informers are able to steer clear of trouble. Some incidents indeed would take place but one would rather prefer this risk than allow millions of gullible patients to suffer at the hands of drugs mafia,” says Mr Harinder Sikka of Piramal Healthcare.

Mr Sikka, in his personal capacity, had filed a public interest litigation in Delhi High Court in 2007, asking the Centre to implement the Mashelkar Committee report (2003) on the issue.

The whistleblower scheme will put fear in the minds of those who have “been enjoying their extended honeymoon with regard to rampant trade in fake drugs”, Mr Sikka says.

Ending a menace

“The manufacturers will have to exercise extreme caution, as the reward is large enough to encourage insiders to blow the lid,” he adds. By cleansing the system of fake drugs, the Centre will address a menace that has caused harm to patients, hurt importers, exporters and genuine manufacturers, he says.

India still does not have an official estimate on the prevalence of spurious drugs, and priority on the issue has swung from high to being put on the backburner. The initial call for death penalty for spurious drug makers has been given a silent burial. The penalty now is life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.

As fake-drug makers end up tarring the entire pharma industry, all sections of the industry have welcomed initiatives to end the problem. The only concern as expressed by the Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association’s Mr Daara Patel, on behalf of small and medium drug-makers, is that genuine drug makers should not inadvertently get caught in the net that is cast for spurious drug makers.