Fake Meningitis Vaccine Racket: Jodhpur Paediatrician under drug controller lens

Talking about the seize, Phatak said, “The supplier of the vaccine is the same Jodhpur-based paediatrician, who is authorised stockist of the company manufacturing the vaccine.”

Jaipur: The rising number of cases pertinent to spurious vaccines floating in the market is indeed alarming. According to a recent media report, a Jodhpur based paediatrician is under the lens of state drug regulators for allegedly selling the duplicate preventive vaccine for meningitis.

Meningitis is an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges.

Medical Dialogues had recently reported that in a major clampdown, the state drug controllers had seized spurious vaccines used for children and adults for the prevention of meningitis. According to a recent media report, the drug controller office had conducted raids in Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner and Kota.

Also Read: Raids in Rajasthan: Drug controller seizes bogus Meningitis vaccines

Presently, the drug controllers have seized four fake vaccine vial found in a hospital from Sriganganagar and one was found from Sikar. Shockingly, the controllers came to know during their preliminary investigation that in Sikar and Sriganganagar the supply of counterfeit medicines was allegedly being carried out by the paediatrician, who was getting the supply from Haryana.

“Since he is a paediatrician, it is easier for him to convince the parents to get their children vaccinated. We are checking his stock and records to find more details,” Ajay Phatak, drug controller, health department told TOI.

Talking about the seize, Phatak said, “The supplier of the vaccine is the same Jodhpur-based paediatrician, who is authorised stockist of the company manufacturing the vaccine.”

The drug controllers initially learnt that the hospital had purchased the vaccine from Jodhpur’s authorised dealer.

“Since he was an authorised dealer of the company, it was difficult for the buyers to doubt on him,” Phatak added.

The Medical Council of India(MCI) has laid down the Code of medical ethics which prohibit doctors from selling any kind of medicines or owning a pharmacy. The ethics code are indeed silent on the fact whether a doctor can be stockist or not

The MCI regulation relating to the Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics for registered medical practitioners reads, "A physician should not run an open shop for sale of medicine for dispensing prescriptions prescribed by doctors other than himself or for sale of medical or surgical appliances. It is not unethical for a physician to prescribe or supply drugs, remedies or appliances as long as there is no exploitation of the patient. Drugs prescribed by a physician or brought from the market for a patient should explicitly state the proprietary formulae as well as generic name of the drug."

The matter is being looked into by the drug controllers, who are fetching bills of the Jodhpur-based authorized stockist to find out the horse’s mouth of the counterfeit vaccines.

Phatak told the daily, that they are in the process of digging out the entire nexus involved in the supply of bogus and fake vaccines in the state.

The drug regulators were informed that the hospital had purchased eight vials and four of them were used on children, while the other four were in stock. The drug controller seized the stock and gave notice to the hospital to reply in three-day time, reports TOI.

Also Read: Delhi: CDSCO raids 45 units illegally making Orthopedic medical devices