Mangaluru, 22 August

Health Minister UT Khader on Saturday said that a SIT constituted to probe into the manufacturing and sale of spurious medicines was looking at a network that was not confined to Karnataka alone.

The State government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive probe into the alleged unlicensed pharmaceutical repacking and relabelling operation in which spurious and expired drugs worth over Rs 4.91 crore were seized.

He said that information had emerged about medicines being manufactured illegally in Himachal Pradesh and Telangana and marketed under the names of reputed companies.

"There is a possibility that even medicines used in emergency treatment could be part of this network," Khader said.

The matter came to light after an inspection by a team of officers from the Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration department at a facility located at a farmhouse in Kurubarakerana Halli, Bidadi, Bengaluru South district on 18 August. The team was acting based on a tip-off. 

Khader also noted that government has introduced a QR code-based mechanism at hotels and other public places to enable people to directly lodge complaints regarding the quality of food and medicines. More than 400 complaints had already been received from various sectors, Khader said.

He said that the government's objective was not to shut down businesses immediately whenever violations were detected. "First, an opportunity will be given to rectify the shortcomings." This, he said, was true in the case of the KFC outlet on KS Rao Road in Mangaluru resuming operations after rotten meat was allegedly found during an inspection.

The government was also considering setting up watch teams at the taluk level, he said, adding that action would continue against artificial paneer, artificial colours and nicotine-containing gutka and pan masala.

On reports that artists had been staying in a Mangaluru hospital, he said the government “will collect information about it; we shouldn't decide by watching the reel.”