Breaking the blister pack: Counterfeit, adulterated medicines network busted
Over the year, investigative agencies have busted nine big drug rackets involving counterfeit and adulterated pharmaceuticals, from cancer treatments and vaccines to antibiotics and psychotropic medicines
Rajkumari and Darshan, a married couple in their mid-30s from Jharkhand, have been grappling with the burden of expensive cancer treatment in Delhi. Rajkumari was diagnosed with blood cancer approximately 10 months ago and has been receiving treatment at AIIMS. Darshan, a landowner, sold their property to finance their medical expenses.
A single injection of the cancer medication they require costs around ₹1.5 lakh, and his wife will need multiple vials. The drugs implicated in a recent investigation by Delhi Police's Inter-State Cell involve counterfeit and illegally diverted high-value cancer medicines, including Darzalex, Imfinzi, Erbitux, Opdyta, Gazyva, Bavencio, Adcetris, and Keytruda.
The bust of the counterfeit drugs network in late August saw 17 arrests and the recovery of 588 filled vials and 3,021 other medicines, valued at approximately ₹9 crore. Aditya Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, disclosed that investigators discovered original cartons and empty boxes being repackaged with batch numbers, MRP details, and other identifying marks removed using chemicals such as acetone.
A red flag for counterfeit drugs, as noted by a doctor at AIIMS, includes a lack of results. Additionally, large discounts on drugs may indicate they are fake. Delhi, with its high concentration of accredited hospitals, attracts patients from across the country for medical treatment. Every month, Delhi Police and the Delhi Drugs Control Department report seizures of various medications, ranging from allergy and skin treatment drugs to high-value cancer medicines, antibiotics, vaccines, and other life-saving pharmaceuticals.
The long and often unsuccessful process of tracing counterfeit medicines to their source means that most news about these operations does not reach the public. In another case from May, spurious oxytocin injections administered in government hospitals in Rajasthan's Kota led to the deaths of five women who had undergone caesarean-section deliveries. The same batch of counterfeit oxytocin had also reached Delhi government hospitals, subsequently seized by the Drugs Control Department.
Just days after the inter-State drug raid, Crime Branch officials arrested Dr. Manish Sharma, a 39-year-old resident of Faridabad in Haryana. Sharma is accused of selling smuggled, suspected adulterated, and counterfeit life-saving drugs. He reportedly traveled to Russia for medical education and returned in 2014, working at a hospital before opening his own practice and registering a pharmaceutical company.
The police claim Sharma sourced medicines through illegal channels and sold them online. The Drugs Control Department recently seized a counterfeit anti-rabies vaccine worth ₹2 lakh from Chandni Chowk’s Bhagirath Palace, acting on a tip-off and sending the vaccine to a testing centre in Himachal Pradesh's Kasauli.
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