The Hindu Business Line : Penalty collected from spurious drug makers to be paid to patients

THE Cabinet may have shot down the proposal mooted by the Health Ministry seeking the imposition of death penalty on manufacturers of spurious drugs, but patients affected by the consumption of such drugs may finally have something to cheer about.

According to the proposed amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, the monetary penalties collected from the manufacturers would be directly paid to the suffering patients. Highly placed sources said that this is being done to ensure that the patients get some monetary relief.

The amendments, which would require Parliamentary approval, envisage making the offence a cognisable one, imposing stiffer penalties on manufacturers of spurious drugs and having special designated courts to hear such offences. The proposed legislation has suggested increasing the fine and imprisonment tenures, besides introducing the concept of on-the-spot checking and fine on the lines of the arrangements that the traffic police have. While the fine can range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh, depending on the crime, imprisonment can be up to five to 10 years.

It is estimated that a large percentage of the world's spurious drugs are produced in India and the market for fake drugs is estimated to be over Rs 4,000 crore or 20 per cent of the total drugs market. The erstwhile National Democratic Alliance Government had decided on death penalty for spurious drug manufacturers and introduced a Bill in Parliament. However, before the Bill could be passed, Parliament was dissolved.

Commenting on the issue, Mr Harinder Sikka, Senior President - Corporate, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd, said, "The changes carried out in the Bill, vis-à-vis monetary penalties to be charged from the guilty and paid to the suffering patients, are a welcome change and shall go a long way in providing some relief. However, we believe that death penalty would have acted as a strong deterrent."

He added that courts in the country are very careful in awarding capital punishment. "The industry now hopes that the Bill would be passed quickly and made into a law."

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Penalty collected from spurious drug makers to be paid to patients