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The All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, the apex body for lakhs of medical shops and pharmacies across the country, will discuss the Ranbaxy issue at its executive committee meeting on June 14.
This is against the backdrop of the US Food and Drugs Authority slapping in May a huge fine of $500 million on Ranbaxy, the country’s largest generic drug manufacturer, for making false claims on certain drugs made at its US plants. Ranbaxy, currently owned by DaiichiSankyo of Japan, had pleaded guilty to the charges. The wrongdoing relates to the period before Ranbaxy was sold to Daiichi in 2008.
“The Ranbaxy issue will certainly come up for discussion at our June 14 meeting,” A.N. Mohan, former president of the organisation, and now a member of the executive committee, told Business Line . He said the meeting was mainly called to discuss the new drug prices order.
Since the Ranbaxy issue would have long-term impact on the pharmaceutical sector and rattle patients’ confidence in not only Ranbaxy medicines but also those of other Indian companies, the issue called for urgent discussion. The dent in the credibility of the pharmaceutical company might also rub off on drug retailers. The AIOCD is the federation of State-level associations of chemists and druggists.
Following the FDA penalty, which concluded an eight-year investigation, Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai asked its doctors not to prescribe Ranbaxy products and Apollo Pharma, issued an advisory to its pharmacy chain to be ‘cautious’ with the company’s drugs.
The wrongdoing by Ranbaxy had been exposed by a former senior executive of the pharma major, US-based Dinesh S. Thakur, who had provided evidence to the FDA. Thakur, being the whistleblower in this case, will get roughly Rs 250 crore of the $500-million fine.
Mohan, however, said the organisation was unlikely to ask its members to stop selling Ranbaxy products unless the Centre or the Drugs Controller General issued an order. He pointed out that the Ranbaxy issue related to nearly a decade ago.
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