GMP Consulting and the Fake Drugs Trade

The Indian government is planning a massive crackdown on the importation of counterfeit drugs following a number of seizures in the Chennai port. Consignments of fake drugs were found and successfully removed from the market before they had the chance to make their way onto the streets and into the hands of unsuspecting consumers. In a new era of government policy, the government is now planning to reward informants whenever information results in a successful arrest and conviction. This has been influenced by the fact that the drugs, which are transported to the port form China and other countries, do not come with any documentation, and so it is unknown if they have been subjected to GMP Consulting and regulations.

The Ministry of Health will begin by rewarding informants with cash prizes when they charge a company or individual with manufacturing and selling counterfeit drugs. This follows an influx of consignments into the Chennai Port over recent months. There were three large busts in October 2009 alone. The cash value of the reward could be up to 20% of the value of the seizure, with quarter of the reward being granted to the informant when they fill out a charge-sheet and the rest when a case has been proved.

The rewards are available for private informants and also those working in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), although the amount of reward has been limited to Rs 35 lakh in any one instance.

The safety of these imitation drugs is unknown in every country that they enter, and it is not just India which has a problem with illegal fake drugs. The black market in Russia, America and even Britain circulates counterfeit drugs to those who cannot afford the real thing. But without going through rigorous GMP Consulting it cannot be ascertained whether the ingredients are safe for human consumption, or if any side effects should be expected.

And so the government in India is hoping that with the new reward policy more fake drugs are seized and their manufacturers prosecuted before they can make their way onto the black market.