Firm blacklisted for spurious drug supply in Vasai

MUMBAI: The Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) has blacklisted m/s Pranic Enterprises, Nalasopara west, after it was proved by the FDA that they were supplying spurious drugs. The FDA had filed an FIR with the Waliv police station after their drug analysis proved that the Pranic Enterprises had supplied 70,000 strips of cefixime 200mg antibiotic which were spurious. Apart from blacklisting them, they have also completely stopped all the consignments from them. The VVCMC has stated that they have increased the efficacy testing of all the drugs supplied to them by various vendors by the FDA to make sure that all stocks are consumable. Activists have questioned the working methodology of the VVCMC as even after an FIR regarding supply of spurious drugs, only the vendor is being held liable. They demand that FIR should be filed against the officers involved in the tender process as they outsourced an important aspect like efficacy testing to a third party private person rather than doing it themselves. They also demanded that the concerned officers should be suspended pending an investigation. Dharmendra Nigam, from the Shiv Sena (Shinde), Vasai Virar Spokesperson said that this was sheer negligence of the VVCMC Chief Medical Officer Dr Bhakti Shaudhary, along with the senior officers of the purchase and supply department. They should not only be suspended immediately but also should be booked for negligence, he added. He has written a formal letter to the Waliv police station (Vasai) and has also emailed to the vvcmc municipal commissioner & administrator Anilkumar Pawar.