{
  "id": 8871469,
  "title": "Karnataka Spurious Drug Racket: Government Halts Business With Pfizer, Cancels Licences Of 16 Firms Over Counterfeit Medicine Manufacturing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/karnataka-spurious-drug-racket-government-halts-business-with-pfizer",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-21T07:05:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/karnataka-spurious-drug-racket-government-halts-business-with-pfizer-cancels-licences-of-16-firms-over-counterfeit-medicine-manufacturing"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has taken stringent action against a large-scale counterfeit medicine racket, halting business with global pharmaceutical company Pfizer and cancelling the licenses of 16 firms involved in manufacturing spurious drugs. Health Minister U T Khader stated that the investigation revealed that the premises used for production were also procuring inexpensive medicines from neighboring states. Pfizer and 16 other firms refused to cooperate, resulting in harsh penalties. The government has also suspended transactions with 14 Pfizer stockists across the state. Additional Drug Controller Dr Umesh S revealed that the counterfeit medicines were either empty or contained incorrect or toxic substances. Pfizer has yet to identify and recall its genuine products, raising concerns about how authorities can differentiate between genuine and counterfeit medicines.",
  "summary": "Bengaluru: In continuation with the investigation into the spurious drug manufacturing racket in the outskirts of Bengaluru city, the Karnataka government has decided to stop business with global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and has cancelled the license of 16 other firms, under whose name the spurious drugs were being manufactured. Our Health & Family Welfare Department @DHFWKA has taken strict…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}